


Senses

by Irrelevant86



Series: Kids of the Avengers [1]
Category: The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-03-03
Updated: 2017-03-02
Packaged: 2018-09-28 00:42:03
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 21
Words: 32,259
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10059698
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Irrelevant86/pseuds/Irrelevant86
Summary: After her moms death Catherine {Cat} Alluisi Banner goes looking for her father. In the process she becomes and Avenger. But soon enough her past comes back to haunt her. Can her father and the rest of the Avengers protect her or will the demons of her past swallow her whole!





	1. Meeting dad and facing shield agents

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer: I don’t own the Avengers or any of the Marvel comics characters, though I do own my original characters.  
> AN: Okay so I’m using Maia Mitchell as the face claim for my character Cat.

I walked down the street towards a building that I’d been searching for all morning. It took several people giving me differing directions before someone finally pointed me in the right direction. I was glad to have finally found the building because my backpack, a large brown leather duffle bag which carried most of my belongings, was starting to get heavy on my back. I stopped for a minute and just stared at the building feeling nervous at what or more precisely who is inside. I was about to drop a big bomb on the man inside and there really is no way to guess how he will react to what I have to say. I took a candy bar out of my bag, and took a bite, flinging my duffle bag back over my shoulder. I took a deep breath, then knocked on the door.  
“It’s open,” A voice said from inside.  
I walked into the building, and looked around. I could see a small cot lying in the corner. There was a stove and fridge at the other end of the room, and I could see a door, which most likely lead to the bathroom, in the back of the room. There was a man with brown eyes, and graying brown hair standing in the middle of the room behind a small table.  
“Can I help you?” He asked me.  
“Yeah, I’m looking for Dr. Banner,” I replied, taking another bite of the candy bar.  
The man stood there for a second, as if he was contemplating weather or not to answer me, looking me up and down, then he smiled.  
“Well you found him,” He said.  
I was surprised, mom never mentioned him having gray hair, but then again, she hasn’t seen him in 16 years, and he’d been through a lot since she’d last seen him. I couldn’t help but think of the video footage I’d seen of the fight between the hulk and the abomination in Harlem that had made the news for five nights in a row. Yeah, I think anyone would have gray hair after dealing with something like that.  
“Would you like something to drink?” He asked, pulling me out of my thoughts.  
I realized that I had been standing there for a minute or two thinking and I blushed crimson and nodded my head quietly feeling embarrassed. I ate the last of my candy bar and threw away the wrapper. I really hope he doesn’t think I’m weird now.  
“Well you know my name how about telling me yours,” He exclaimed, grabbing a glass and filling it with water.  
I glanced up at him again and realized I’d done it again. My blush only got deeper at this realization.  
“Catherine, but I go by Cat,” I replied quickly. He looked at me funny, and handed me the glass of water.  
“Cat?” He asked. I took a sip of water, then set the glass down on the table.  
“Mom preferred to call me Cat, it was my stepfather who always called me Catherine,” I replied, shrugging my shoulders.  
He nodded his head at that. I preferred to go by Cat. My stepfather was a very formal person and would only ever call me Catherine. He was a very cold, cruel, and distant person, and now I can’t hear someone call me Catherine without cringing.  
“Actually, you knew my mom about 16 years ago,” I stated.  
“I did?” He asked.  
I nodded my head, and pulled out a photo of me and mom. It was one of the only pictures I had left of her and it was my favorite. It was taken two years ago, while we were on a trip to the Grand Canyon. In the picture Mom’s long blond hair was pulled back into a high ponytail, and her brown eyes shined in happiness and love as she glanced down at me.  
“Oh, yeah Sammy I remember her. How is she?” He asked. I looked down at the ground.  
“She died from cancer a few weeks ago,” I mumbled.  
“Oh, I’m sorry…”  
“It’s okay you had no way of knowing,” I said, cutting him off.  
“Um well not to be rude but why are you here?” He asked.  
“Well a few years before she died she told me that my ‘father’ who’d… ugh… died almost ten years ago, wasn’t actually my father, that she’d married him a year after I was born, and well right before she died she told me about my real dad,” I stated, looking up at him. I could already see Dr. Banners eyes grow wide at what I was saying.  
“Oh, I think I know where this is going,” He mumbled.  
“Yeah,” I replied.  
He sat down and ran his fingers through his hair. He seemed to be at a loss for words, but then again who could blame him, he did just find out that he’s a father to a sixteen-year-old girl.  
“What’s in the bag?” He asked, after a few seconds glancing up at me.  
“My entire life, everything I own,” I replied. He looked at the duffle bag that I’d set on the floor, and raised his eyebrow.  
“Not much there,” He stated.  
“Yeah after my stepdad… died mom decided it would be fun to buy an R.V. and travel. So, when she died I didn’t really have too many things,” I explained, sitting down.  
“Um I have a question I’d like to ask you,” Dr. Banner mumbled.  
“Go ahead and ask, and I’ll try and give you an answer… if I know the answer that is,” I said. He smiled.  
“Well two question actually. Um first off just so there’s no confusion you’re saying I’m your dad?” He asked. I laughed and nodded my head.  
“Mom was sure, she said you were the only person that she was with before I was born, then about nine months after you left I was born, and the only other person she’d been with after you was my stepdad, who she met a year after I was born,” I explained. Dr. Banner nodded his head.  
“And your second question would be…” I asked.  
“Oh, yeah uh…” He rubbed the back of his head, “Do you know about my… condition?” He asked. I smiled, and nodded my head.  
“Yeah, my mom heard about it on the news, and when she told me about you she also told me about that. Plus I saw the news feeds about the Hulk,” I replied. Dr. Banner nodded his head, and smiled at me.  
“So not to be rude, but why did you come here. Cause as you can see I don’t exactly have much to offer,” He stated, motioning to the tiny room of a house. I chuckled, and Dr. Banner raised his eyebrow.  
“Well I wanted to get to know my dad, and well now you’re really the only family I have left,” I explained…  
…I was brought out of my memories by a girl running up the stairs, and a woman shouting something I couldn’t understand. Even though I’d been here for over five months I was still learning how to speak their language.  
“Get out. There is sickness here,” I think she said.  
Dad and I had been helping the people of the village we’ve been living in for some time now. People just started getting sick and dad seems to be the only one who knows how to help these people. The little girl started to speak fast and I couldn’t understand her.  
“Slow down,” Dad said.  
“My father,” The girl exclaimed.  
I could see she was hold money in her hands, and she looked like she was about to cry. Her shirt was dirty and tattered, her hair was slightly matted, and her face was covered in dirt and tear tracks. My heart went out to the girl who couldn’t be any older than ten.  
“Like them?” Dad asked, pointing towards the person lying on a mat in the corner.  
“Please,” She said.  
Dad nodded his head, and motioned for me to come with him. I followed him and the girl down the street towards a building. The girl was about to cross the street, when dad stopped her, and I watched as a car drove by. Then we ran into the building. The girl ran through the room, and disappeared. Dad sighed.  
“Shoulda got paid up front Banner,” He mumbled.  
“You know for a man who’s supposed to be avoiding stress you picked a hell of a place to settle,” A woman said, walking into the room.  
“Avoiding stress isn’t the secret,” Dad replied.  
“Then what is it, yoga?” The woman asked. I shifted from one foot to the other, and dad looked back at me worriedly.  
“You brought us to the edge of the city smart. I uh… assume the whole place is surrounded,” Dad stated.  
“Just you, me, and your daughter,” The woman replied.  
“And your actress buddy. She a spy to, they start that young?” Dad asked.  
“I did,” She stated.  
“Who are you?” Dad asked.  
“Natasha Romanoff,” She replied.  
“Are you here to kill me Ms. Romanoff?” I cringed at his question.  
“Cause that’s not gonna work out for everyone,” He said, once again giving me a worried look.  
“No of course not, I’m here on behalf of S.H.I.E.L.D.” Natasha explained. I released the breath that I hadn’t realized I’d been holding. At least she isn’t here to hurt dad.  
“S.H.I.E.L.D. how’d they find me?” Dad asked.  
“We never lost you doctor we’ve kept our distance. Even helped keep some other interested parties off your scent,” Natasha stated.  
“Why?” dad asked.  
“Nick Fury seems to trust you. But now we need you to come in,” Natasha explained.  
“What if I said no?” Dad asked.  
“I’ll persuade you,” She replied.  
“And what if the other guy says no,” Dad said.  
“You’ve been more than a year without an incident. I don’t think you want to break that streak,” Natasha stated. I hate this entire situation, why can’t they just leave him alone.  
“Doctor we’re facing a potential catastrophe,” Natasha stated, bringing me back from my thoughts.  
Dad chuckled. Man, we really do sound almost the same when we laugh. Mom had always told me that I sounded like him when I laughed, and now I finally agreed with her.  
“Well those I try to avoid,” Dad replied.  
Natasha pulled up a picture of a blue cube on her phone, and slid it across a table, which I hadn’t noticed until just now, towards us.  
“This is the Tesseract it has the potential energy to wipe out the planet,” Natasha explained. Dad put his glasses on, and picked up the phone.  
“And what does Furry want dad to do? Swallow it?” I asked, a bit annoyed. Dad chuckled again and Natasha smiled at me.  
“He wants your dad to find it. It’s been taken. It emanates a gamma signature that’s too weak for us to trace, and well there’s no one that knows gamma radiation like your dad. If there was that’s where I’d be,” Natasha replied. Dad took his glasses off.  
“So, Furry isn’t after the monster?” Dad asked.  
“Not that he’s told me,” Natasha replied.  
“And he tells you everything?” Dad questioned.  
“Talk to Fury he needs you,” Natasha said, ignoring his question.  
“He needs me in a cage?” Dad asked. I flinched again at his question.  
“No one’s going to put you in a cage,” Natasha replied.  
“STOP LYING TO ME,” Dad shouted, slamming his hands down on the table, causing me to jump.  
Natasha pulled out her gun, and aimed it at him. Dad took a step away from me, trying to get the gun away from my general direction.  
“I’m sorry that was mean I just wanted to see what you’d do. Why don’t we do this the easy way where you don’t use that and the other guy doesn’t make a mess, okay, Natasha,” Dad said, glancing at me with another worried look plastered across his face.  
“Stand down,” Natasha said, putting her hand to her ear. I heard people moving out side, and the sound of guns clicking.  
“Just us?” Dad asked…


	2. Helicarriers and Super Soldier Serums

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A short look into Cat's past, and Cat and Bruce arrive on the Helicarrier and meet a few new people.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I don’t own the Avengers or any of the Marvel comics characters, though I do own my original characters.

I pulled at the restraints around my wrists, but they didn’t budge. Why, why was this happening? A door open, and I looked over to one side of the room. My dad walked in. His cold blue eyes glared at me, and I cringed under his gaze. He was carrying a tray in his hands, and I could see three syringes lying on it. I struggled under the restraints trying to get free.  
“It’ll all be over in a minute, just stay still,” Dad stated, with no emotion in his voice.  
I could feel tears falling down my face. He set the tray down on a stand, and picked up one of the syringes. He walked over to me, and stuck the needle in my arm. I screamed in pain as whatever was in the syringe went into my arm. It felt like my body was on fire. Out of the corner of my eye I could see dad pull out a small tape-recorder.  
“Test subject Catherine, age six, seems to be reacting well to the serum. Hopefully my attempts to recreate the Super Soldier serum will be a success… unlike my last failure…” My dad set the tape-recorder down and picked up the next syringe. He injected into my other arm, and the pain got worse. My vision started to get slightly blurry.  
Suddenly I heard the door open, and I looked up to see mom running at dad, and she looked pissed. She had a baseball bat in her hands and swung it right at hitting him in the face, sending him flying backwards. Blood came pouring out of his nose and he cursed loudly.  
“How dare you even touch my daughter,” She screamed at him. Dad gritted his teeth.  
“Mom it hurts,” I exclaimed.  
Mom patted my arm, and glared at dad. She quickly undid the restraints around my wrist while keeping an eye on dad.  
“We’re leaving, and you won’t ever see us again,” Mom stated.  
Dad jumped up off the ground and lunged at mom, but mom swung the bat at him again this time hitting him in the gut, and he fell to the floor again gasping for air.  
“She’s not even your daughter, how dare you even preform tests on her,” Mom shouted, picking me up. What, she’s not making any sense. Of course he’s my dad, isn’t he? My vision was starting to go black from the pain. I closed my eyes and drifted off…  
“Cat you okay?” Dad asked. I opened my eyes, and looked at him. He looked worried and I quickly sat up.  
“Yeah, I’m fine… bad dream,” I mumbled, looking away from him.  
I still hadn’t told him about what happened that day. That I’d gained an ability from what my stepdad gave me, instead I’d told him that my stepdad was dead, which of course wasn’t true. Honestly, I have no idea where my stepdad is. My stomach rumbled, and dad handed me a candy bar. I took it from him, and took a bite out of it. I’ve always had a Hypermetabolism and because of that I was Anemic as well.  
The serum that my stepfather injected me with only made it worse because my body needed more food now to function properly after using my powers. Of course, dad didn’t know about the powers part, all he knew was that I had Anemia and Hypermetabolism so he always kept a couple candy bars with him, just in case I got hungry, and a bottle of vitamins and iron supplements in case I needed them.  
“We’re here,” someone said. I stood up, and walked out of the small helicopter. I looked around me. I was standing on a ship that was in the middle of the ocean.  
“Man this is amazing,” I mumbled. Dad smiled at me. I took a couple more bites of the candy bar, as I looked around me.  
“Dr. Banner,” A blond man said, walking towards us holding his hand out for dad to shake.  
“Oh, yeah hi, they told me you’d be coming,” Dad said, shaking the man’s hand.  
I looked at dad confused. Obviously I’d missed something while I was stuck in my memories. The man turned to me, and shook my hand.  
“I’m Steve,” He stated. I smiled.  
“Cat,” I replied. Steve turned back to dad.  
“Word is you can find the cube,” Steve stated.  
“Is that the only word about me?” Dad asked.  
“Only word I care about,” Steve replied. I smiled.  
“Must be strange for you all this?” Dad asked.  
I glanced at dad strangely, while finishing off my candy bar, wondering why he would say that. A group of men in uniform ran past us in formation.  
“Well this is actually kind of familiar,” Steve replied, shrugging his shoulders.  
“Guys you might want to step inside it’s gonna get a little hard to breath,” Natasha stated. Suddenly the ship started to shake, and I could hear a humming sound.  
“Is this a submarine?” Steve asked. I walked towards the edge of the ship with dad and Steve behind me.  
“Really they want me in a submerged pressurized metal container?” Dad asked.  
I looked over the edge, and I could see the ship was rising out of the water. Holy shit this thing flies?! That is so cool.  
“Oh, no this is much worse,” Dad exclaimed…  
~(^.^)~  
I followed dad, Steve, and Natasha through the hallway towards a large room. We walked into a room that’s filled with people all of whom are sitting at computers. There was a tall intimidating man with an eye patch over one eye standing in the middle of the room.  
“Let’s vanish,” He exclaimed.  
“Engaging reflection panels,” a woman stated.  
The man turned towards us, and starts walking towards the table we were standing next to. Steve walked forward and pulled a ten dollar bill out of his pocket. He handed it to the man, then walked towards the middle of the room. I giggled at that, wonder what bet he lost to the man. The man walked towards me and dad, and held his hand out to dad.  
“Doctor thank you for coming,” The man said.  
Dad shook his hand. I’m going to take a wild guess and say that this is director Fury. He seemed to be the one in charge so it made sense. I’ll have to ask dad when were alone.  
“Thanks for asking nicely, so uh… how long will we be staying?” Dad asked, motioning in my direction.  
“Once we get our hands on the Tesseract you’re in the wind,” He replied.  
“Where are you with that?” Dad asked.  
“We’re sweeping every wireless accessible camera on the planet, cell phones laptops, if it’s connected to a satellite it’s eyes and ears for us,” Another man off to the side of the room explained.  
Dad started asking questions, and I zoned out for part of the conversation not in the least bit interested in the techno talk.  
“Agent Romanoff show doctor Banner and his daughter to their laboratory please,” The man with the eye patch ordered.  
“You’re gonna love it doc we got all the toys,” Natasha stated. I followed them out of the room, and down the hallway.  
“Okay first question who was the guy with the eye patch?” I asked.  
“That’s director Fury,” Natasha replied. Ha I was right!  
“And the other guy who spoke?” I asked.  
“Agent Coulson,” Natasha said.  
“And ugh why did you ask Steve earlier if all of this seemed strange to him?” I questioned.  
“You don’t know? It was in the packet we gave the two of you?” Natasha asked.  
“Hey I feel asleep on the ride over so I didn’t get the chance to read it,” I defended, shrugging my shoulders.  
“Cat that’s Steve Rogers. You know Captain America. World War II Super Soldier who fought Nazis,” Dad exclaimed.  
I stared at him wide eyed my jaw practically hit the floor. I’m so stupid how did I not recognize him sooner. My stepfather had tried to recreate the serum used on Steve, he used his version of the serum on me! After mom and I ran from my stepfather I spent an entire year researching super soldier serum and everything that had to do with Captain America. He was a hero and I will admit I had a crush on him for a couple years when I was younger. How in the hell didn’t I recognize him the second I saw him?!!!  
“Oh… well… now I just feel stupid,” I muttered, crossing my arms and pouting.  
Dad chuckled, and put his arm around my shoulders. We continued down the hallway and the whole way to the lab I couldn’t help but think about super soldier serums, horrible stepfathers, and Captain America.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: I’m using John Glover as my face claim for Cat’s Stepdad.


	3. Loki and science talk

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Loki is captured, and Tony finally makes an appearance.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I don’t own the Avengers or any of the Marvel comics characters, though I do own my original characters.

I was sitting in the lab, looking through everyone’s files, except for my dad’s file for the most obvious reason. I wanted to know everything about the people me and my dad would be working with. I was glad to see that my file wasn’t in here, at least I won’t have to worry about dad finding about what happened with my stepdads ‘experiment’. I sighed, and sat back in my seat thinking back to when my powers first developed…  
I hit the punching bag with such force, that my hand went straight through the bag. I heard mom laugh. I yanked my hand out of the bag.  
“I hate this. Why did he have to give me that serum?” I asked mom, pulling my long brown hair back into a pony tail.  
“I don’t know why, but that’s the reason I’m teaching you how to fight,” Mom replied. I smiled at her.  
“This ability sucks, I hate it,” I mumbled.  
“Hey it’s a part of you now, so no matter what it can never suck,” Mom stated, wrapping me in a hug. I wrapped my arms around her, returning her hug.  
“All right so can you tell what the people in the RV next to us are doing?” Mom asked.  
I smiled, and nodded my head. I closed my eyes, and concentrated on heightening my sense of hearing. I could hear the sound of bacon sizzling on a stove, and a fridge door slammed shut.  
“Their making breakfast,” I replied, licking my lips at the sound of the bacon cooking. Mom laughed.  
“Okay we’ll get something to eat once you tell me what’s perched on that tree at the gate,” Mom said, pointing towards the gate that was twenty RV’s away.  
I smiled, and stared at the tree. At first all I could see was a small blob sitting on the tree, the same thing that any normal person would see. I concentrated on heightening my vision, and stared at the blob. The blob changed into a small blue bird that was cleaning its feathers. It was pretty small, probably still a baby.  
“It’s a baby blue bird,” I exclaimed.  
“That’s great. You’re getting better at heightening your sense’s, alright now let’s get something to eat,” Mom said, patting my stomach. She stood up, and walked towards the stove…  
“Cat you okay?” Dad asked, giving me a worried look. I glanced up at him for a second.  
“Oh, yeah uh I was caught up in a memory of mom,” I mumbled.  
Dad nodded his head, and looked back down at his work. I sighed and turned back to the files. Suddenly I heard a group of people walking past the lab. I looked up to see a large group of agents walking down the hallway. In the middle of them was a man with long slicked back black hair, and green eyes. His eyes were hollow with dark circles around them as if he hadn’t gotten any sleep recently.  
All my senses were screaming danger as stared at him. I could literally smell the crazy coming off of him in waves. This must be Loki, the man who stole the cube. He looked at dad, and grinned, then he looked at me, and his grin got even bigger. Dad stepped in front of me, blocking the man’s view of me.  
“Doctor Banner, Catherine, report to the bridge,” Director Fury ordered over the intercom that was in the corner of the room.  
I cringed at the use of my full name. God how I hate being called that. I’ll have to make sure to tell Director Fury to call me Cat. I sighed; this is going to be a long day. I followed dad through the hall back to the bridge, when we walked in Steve was in his Captain America suit. This suit was different from the one he wore back in WWII but it still looked good on him. I noticed a tall blond man standing off to the side of the room. He looked to be deep in thought, but the second we stepped into the room, he looked up at us.  
“Hi,” I said, giving him a small smile.  
He nodded in my direction, and went back to whatever it was that he was thinking about. Hm hey can’t say I didn’t try to be friendly. Natasha was looking down at a small computer screen on the table, and I walked over to the table, and looked at the screen. Director Fury was standing in a room that had a big glass cage in the center. The man that had been escorted past the lab was standing inside the cage.  
“A mindless beast,” Natasha looked up at dad when he said this, “How desperate are you, that you call on such lost creatures to defend you,” The man said.  
“How desperate am I? You threaten my world with war, you steal a force you can’t hope to control, you talk about peace, and you kill cause it’s fun. You have made me very desperate, you might not be glad that you did,” Director Fury replied.  
“Ohh, it burns you to have come so close. To have the Tesseract, to have unlimited power, for what? A warm light for all mankind to share, and then to be reminded what real power is,” Loki said. I shivered, and sat down in the seat next to Steve. This man really gave me the creeps.  
“Well let me know if real power wants a magazine or something,” Director Fury stated, walking out of the room. I smirked at Director Fury’s comment.  
“He really grows on you doesn’t he,” Dad said sarcastically.  
“Loki’s gonna drag this out… So Thor what’s his play?” Steve asked, glancing up at the tall blond man. Thor stood there with his arms crossed for a couple of seconds before replying.  
“He has an army called the Chitauri. They’re not of Asgard or any world known. He means to lead them against your people, they will win him the Earth, in return for the Tesseract I suspect,” Thor explained.  
“An army, from outer space?” Steve asked sounding skeptical.  
“So he’s building another portal that’s what he needs Eric Selvig for,” Dad stated.  
“Selvig?” Thor asked.  
“He’s an astrophysicist,” Dad replied.  
“He’s a friend,” Thor stated.  
“Loki has him under some kind of spell along with one of ours,” Natasha said.  
I glanced over at Natasha at this statement. Because of my powers, I could hear the undertone of sadness and anger in her voice. She must be close with whoever was taken.  
“I don’t know why Loki let us take him. He’s not leading an army from here,” Steve exclaimed.  
The man had a point, why would Loki allow himself to be captured. It made me feel uneasy to know that this man was on the same ship as us.  
“I don’t think you should be focusing on Loki. That guy’s brain is like a bag full of cats, you can smell the crazy on him,” Dad said. I chuckled. Dad didn’t realize how true his statement was.  
“Have care how you speak… Loki is beyond reason but he is of Asgard and he is my brother,” Thor said.  
“He killed 80 people in 2 days,” Natasha replied. For a second Thor just stood there.  
“He’s adopted,” Thor stated. I rolled my eyes. Like that makes up for what he’s done.  
“I think it’s about the mechanic’s iridium, what do they need the iridium for?” Dad asked.  
“Stabilizing agent,” Stark said, walking into the room with agent Coulson, “It means the portal won’t collapse on itself like it did at S.H.I.E.L.D.,” Stark walked over to Thor and patted him on the arm. “No hard feelings you got a mean swing,” He walked towards the computer screens and looked at each screen.  
“It also means the portal can open as wide and stay open as long as Loki wants,” Stark paused for a second, then pointed at a man sitting at a computer, “That man is playing Galaga, thought we wouldn’t notice but we did,” Stark covered his eye and looked at the computer screens.  
“How does Fury even see this?” He asked.  
“He turns,” A woman replied.  
“Sounds exhausting. The rest of the raw materials agent Barton can get his hands on pretty easily. The major component he still needs is a power source, high energy density,” I watched as stark placed something on the bottom of the monitor, “Something to kick start the cube,” Stark finished, turning to us.  
“When’d you become an expert in thermo-nuclear astrophysics?” The same woman who’d spoken a few seconds ago asked.  
“Last night, the packet, the extraction theory papers; am I the only one who read it?” Stark asked.  
“Does Loki need any particular kind of power source?” Steve asked.  
“He’d have to heat it, the cube to 120 million Calvin just to break through the coolant barrier,” Dad explained.  
“Unless he’s figured out how to stabilize the quantum part,” Stark pointed out. Man, I was starting to develop a headache. Science wasn’t really my forte.  
“Well if he could do that he could shoot the heavy ion fusion at any reactor on the planet,” Dad replied,  
“Finally someone who speaks English,” Stark exclaimed, walking over to dad, and they shook hands.  
“Is that what just happened?” Steve asked me. I chuckled softly at his comment and shook my head.  
“They only think they’re speaking English when really they’re speaking a hole other language,” I whispered.  
Steve smiled at this and I could see his shoulders shake in laughter. Ha I made Captain America laugh, score!! Okay so maybe I still had a small crush on the man, but I mean who wouldn’t.  
“It’s good to meet you Dr. Banner your work on anti-electronic collision is unparalleled and I’m a huge fan of the way you loss control and turn into an enormous green rage monster,” Stark said.  
I turned a bit, and glared at Stark. That man can be unbelievable at times. I wanted to whack him upside the back of his head for saying that. Dad was very sensitive about the Hulk and Stark saying stuff like that doesn’t help.  
“Thanks,” Dad replied awkwardly.  
“Dr. Banner is only here to track the cube I was hoping you might join him,” Director Fury stated, walking into the room.  
“Let’s start with that stick of his, maybe magical works an awful lot like a hydra weapon,” Steve interjected.  
I shivered at the name Hydra an image of their symbol popping into my head, the same symbol that my stepfather had plastered on one of the walls in his lab.  
“I don’t know about that but it is powered by the cube, and I’d like to know how Loki used it to turn two of the sharpest men I know into his personal flying monkeys,” Director Fury grumbled. Thor gave Director Fury a funny look.  
“Monkeys. I do not understand,” Thor stated.  
“I do… I understood that reference,” Steve exclaimed.  
I chuckled. I’ll have to introduce Steve to some more recent movies and TV shows, and even some newer books. Hopefully then he won’t feel so out of place.  
“This way,” Dad said, walking towards the door.  
Apparently, I missed something. I jumped up out of my seat, and followed dad and Stark out of the room. Stark eyed me for a second, as if he was trying to figure out something. I ignored his look and continued walking down the hall towards the lab. He would figure it out sooner or later.


	4. Secrets revealed and arguments take place

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bruce finally finds out about Cats powers, and Tony and Steve have a disagreement

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I don’t own the Avengers or any of the Marvel comics characters, though I do own my original characters.

We walked into the lab, and I sat down on top of one of the desks.  
“Okay so who are you?” Stark asked me. He kept looking me over, confusion written on his face.   
“Cat,” I replied. Stark smiled, and held his hand out. I reached out and shook his hand.  
“And I’m Stark,” He replied.  
“Yeah I know, we’ve already met,” I stated.  
“You have?” “We have?” Dad and Stark asked at the same time.   
I nodded my head. Stark scowled as he tried to remember who I am and how we know each other. I laughed, figures he wouldn’t remember me.   
“Yeah, my mom worked for you about 11 years ago,” I explained, showing him a picture of mom. Stark glanced at the picture and recognition flashed over his face.   
“Oh, yeah I remember you, but then again how could I forget you and your mom, especially since I helped relocate you two after that incident with your stepdad,” Stark exclaimed, looking at the picture. Mom had been working for Tony back then before the incident.   
My eyes went wide, and I shook my head trying to get him to shut up, but he wasn’t looking at me. Dad looked between me and Stark.  
“What incident?” Dad asked, but Stark didn’t seem to hear him.  
“So toots, why isn’t your file with the rest of the files?” Stark asked, smirking at me.   
I shook my head again, and dad gave him a funny look at him calling me toots. I swear I’ll kill him, he knows that my mom used to call me that, and that she was the only person allowed to call me toots.  
“I don’t see why it would be,” Dad stated, sounding a bit annoyed.  
“Well she does make an excellent addition to the team, what with the ability she got after that incident with her stepdad,” Tony replied, looking between me and dad. I slammed my hand onto my face, and shook my head. I swear one of these days I will kill Tony Stark!   
“What ability?!” Dad asked, half shouting. Tony gave him a funny look.  
“Tony I swear you say one more word and I will strangle you,” I grumbled, gritting my teeth.  
“No you tell me now what this ability is, and what the hell this ‘incident’ was with her stepdad,” Dad exclaimed. I could see he was getting angry, and I know Tony could see it to.   
“Ah is there something I don’t know about here?” Tony asked.   
I put my hand on dad’s shoulder, and gave him a look. He took a deep breath to calm himself. I sighed.  
“Cat is my daughter, now tell me what the heck you two are talking about,” Dad replied.   
“Oh, I get it now, oh crap I just let the cat out of the bag, didn’t I?” Tony asked, looking at me with a grin on his face.   
I nodded my head and scowled at his little joke. I smacked him upside the back of his head.  
“I swear Tony I will get you back for this,” I grumbled, glaring at him. Tony chuckled as he rubbed the back of his head.   
“Okay now the two of you are going to tell me what this incident was with your stepdad, and what he was talking about when he said you had an ability,” Dad ordered. I looked at Tony.  
“Well you got me into this mess so you’re going to be the one to explain to him,” I stated.   
At that I walked across the room, and sat down in a chair. Tony glared at me, and I smirked at him.  
“Okay so about 10 years ago, her stepdad, gave her some sort of serum without her permission,” Tony started. I could see dad’s eyes go wide, and his hands balled into fists.  
“I think you’d be happy to know that mom kick his arse with a baseball bat,” I shouted, trying to get him to calm down.   
“You said he died,” dad stated. Oh crap, this is so not good, I am so in trouble.  
“No he’s not dead, not exactly sure where he is now, but I know for a fact he’s not dead,” Stark stated.  
“Gee thanks a lot Stark,” I shouted. Dad looked seriously pissed.  
“The only reason I didn’t tell you was cause I didn’t want you to know about me having ability,” I mumbled, not looking at dad.  
“You know maybe now isn’t such a good time to be talking about this,” Tony stated. Dad looked between me and Tony, then nodded his head.  
“But when we get off this thing you’re going to tell me exactly what happened,” Dad stated, glaring at me. I groaned. Oh, I am in so much trouble!  
“You’ve certainly gotten taller since the last time I’ve seen you but then again it has been 10 years. How tall are you?” Stark exclaimed. I sighed.  
“5ft 6 inches,” I mumbled. He nodded his head.  
“So when’d you add that pink streak to your hair?” Stark asked, smirking at me. I glared at him still mad at him for telling my secret to my dad.   
“About a year ago,” I grumbled, setting my head down on a desk.  
“So, ugh Tony how’s Poppy, I haven’t seen her since we left?” I asked.   
Poppy is Tony’s daughter who was only about a year or so old when me and mom escaped from my stepfather. Tony had had a fling with some woman and accidently gotten her pregnant, not that he knew about it till ten months later when the woman left little Poppy on his doorstep with a note telling him Poppy was his problem now. Tony had hired my mom to baby sit Poppy whenever he had to go out of town for any reason.  
Honestly despite his playboy persona Tony is a great dad even if he thinks he isn’t. He tried to spend as much time with her as possible. Sometimes he would bring Poppy and I down to his lab and show us the things he was working on, not that Poppy really understood any of it at the time. He used to tell my mom that he wanted to be the dad he always wanted, and that Poppy would never grow up without knowing whether or not her dad loved her.   
“Poppy’s fine, she’s thirteen now, and just starting to act like a teenager. She’s smart to, takes after me I guess. By the time, she was seven she could take apart a car engine and put it back together again,” Tony praised, smiling brightly.   
I smiled back. I always knew Poppy would grow up to be real smart.   
~(^.^)~  
“You should come to the tower some time, the top ten floors is R&D you’d love it, its candy land,” stark exclaimed.  
“Thanks, but last time I was in New York I kind of broke… Harlem,” Dad replied. I cringed at that. The footage was pretty bad, but to be honest dad was the hero in that situation.  
“Well I promise a stress-free environment. No surprises,” Stark stated, poking dad with something.   
“Ow,” Dad exclaimed. I gritted my teeth and glared at Stark.  
“Hey,” Steve shouted, walking into the room still dressed in his Captain America suit.  
“Nothing,” Stark mumbled.  
“Are you nuts?” Steve asked Stark.  
“You really got a lid on it, what’s your secret mellow jazz, bongo drums, huge bag of weed?” Stark asked. I couldn’t help but chuckle at his last option. Of course, Tony would suggest weed.  
“Is everything a joke to you? Threatening the safety of everyone on this ship isn’t funny, no offense doc,” Steve shouted.  
“No it’s all right. I wouldn’t have come aboard if I couldn’t handle pointy things,” Dad replied.   
I could feel the tension in the room rising. I could smell it in the air and it made me nervous. I defiantly do not like conflict.   
“And you need to focus on the problem Mr. Stark,” Steve stated.  
“You think I’m not. Why did Fury call us and why now? Why not before? What isn’t he telling us?” Stark asked.  
“You think Fury’s hiding something?” Steve asked.  
“He’s a spy Captain, he’s the spy. His secrets have secrets. It’s bugging him, too isn’t it?” Stark asked dad.  
“Ahh… I just wanna finish my work here,” Dad mumbled.  
“Doctor?” Steve asked. Dad sighed.  
“A warm light for all mankind, Loki’s jab at Fury about the cube,” Dad started.  
“I heard it,” Steve said.  
“Well I think it was meant for you,” Dad said, pointing at Stark.   
Stark held out a small silver bag towards dad, and dad reached in and pulled something out of the bag, and popped it into his mouth. Ate the sight of food I reminded just how hungry I am. How long has it been since I last ate? Oh yeah right the candy bar dad gave me earlier, man if I don’t get something to eat soon I might pass out. Suddenly the smell of food came to my nose. Damn this ability, and how it connects to my feelings.   
“Once my decryption program finish’s breaking into all of S.H.E.I.L.D.’s secure files,” I heard Stark say. So that’s what he put on the computer.  
“Sorry did you say…”  
“Jarvis’ been running it since I hit the bridge, in a few hours I’ll know every dirty little secret S.H.E.I.L.D has ever tried to hide,” Stark walked over to Steve and held out the tiny silver bag, “Blueberry?” He asked.   
I reached over, and plucked some of the berries out of the bag, silently thanking him. Stark grinned at me. I’d practically eaten every candy bar in Starks office back when my mom used to work for him, so it was safe to say he knew I was in need of something to eat by now.   
“I think you’re confused about why they didn’t want you around,” Steve stated.  
“An intelligence organization that fears intelligence historically not awesome,” Stark replied.  
“What about you Cat?” Steve asked me. I looked up at him, and popped a blueberry in my mouth.  
“Sorry but I’m gonna have to agree with Stark and dad on this one,” I replied.   
Steve glared at Stark for a moment, and Stark just smirked at him. I hated to upset Steve but in this instance, I had to agree with dad and Stark.   
“I think Loki’s trying to wind us up this is a man who means to start a war and if we don’t stay focused he’ll succeed. We have orders we should follow them,” Steve stated.  
“Followings not really my style,” Stark replied.   
“And you’re all about style aren’t you?” Steve asked.  
“Of the people in this room which one is A. wearing a spangley outfit, and B. not of use,” Stark replied.   
Now that was just uncalled for! You do not mock the Captain America suit. Time to end this before they actually get into a fist fight.  
“All right you two that’s enough, you’re both adults now start acting like it,” I shouted, stepping in between them. Steve glared at Stark for a second.  
“Just find the cube,” He ordered, then walked out of the room.  
“That’s the guy my dad never shut up about. Shoulda kept him on ice,” Stark mumbled. I frowned at him.   
“And maybe you shoulda staid in New York,” I mumbled under my breath.  
“He’s right about Loki, he does have the jump on us,” Dad said.  
“What he’s got is acme dynamite, it’s gonna blow up in his face and I’ma be there when it does,” Stark replied. I chuckled at his description. He’s not wrong about that.   
“I’ll read all about it,” Dad mumbled.  
“Mhm or you’ll be suiting up with the rest of us,” Stark said.   
I felt the blood drain out of my face at Starks comment. The thought of dad out there fighting aliens made panic run through me. What if he got hurt, or worse?!  
“Ah you see I don’t get a suit of armor. I’m exposed like a nerve it’s a night mare,” Dad stated. I cringed at what he was saying. Man why do they have to start talking about this stuff?  
“You know I’ve got a cluster of scrap metal trying every second to crawl its way into my heart this stops it,” Stark tapped the light on his chest, “This little circle of light. Its part of me.”  
“But you can control it,” Dad replied. I sighed, I hate it when we get on this topic, it always make dad seem so sad to talk about it.  
“That much gamma radiation shoulda killed you,” Stark stated.  
“So you’re saying the hulk… the other guy saved my life? That’s a nice sentiment, saved it for what?” Dad asked.  
“Maybe so you could be here with your daughter,” Stark replied, motioning in my direction. I looked up at them, and dad looked back at me with a faint smile crossing his face, then he looked back at the computer.   
“Hey got any more of those blueberry’s cause I’m starving?” I asked Stark, trying to lighten the atmosphere. He nodded his head, and handed me the small silver bag.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: In this chapter I mention that Tony has a daughter named Poppy. She’s an OC from my story ‘The Spider and the Heiress’ which takes place in the same universe as this story {obviously}.


	5. Overloaded senses and explosions

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I don’t own the Avengers or any of the Marvel comics characters, though I do own my original characters.

Nine years ago  
I sat down on the small couch in the RV. All my sense’s where going into overdrive. Normally I can only heighten one sense at a time. The only time all my senses heighten at the same time without any help from me was when something bad was about to happen or there was a storm coming. Mom thinks it’s a self-preservation thing, my ability letting me know when there’s danger. I covered my ears with my hands as the sound of wind blowing outside amplified till it was the only thing I could hear. My head was hurting from the sensory over load.  
“Another storm?” Mom asked. I nodded my head.  
“I hate how it just goes into overdrive whenever some natural event like a storm happens,” I grumbled.   
“Well at least it doesn’t last too long,” Mom replied, patting me on my shoulder. My senses slowly went back to normal, and I was left with a massive headache.  
~(^.^)~  
Present  
“What are you doing Mr. Stark?” Director Fury asked, walking into the room.   
“Ah I’ve kinda been wondering the same thing about you,” Stark replied.   
“You’re supposed to be locating the Tesseract,” Director Fury stated.  
“We’re searching for the signature now, when we get a hit we’ll have the location,” Dad replied.  
“You’ll get your cube back, what’s phase two?” Stark asked, looking at a monitor. At that moment Steve walked in and set something down on the table.   
“Phase two S.H.I.E.L.D. use’s the cube to make weapons. Sorry the computer was moving a little slow for me,” Steve said.   
“Rogers we gathered everything related to the Tesseract, this does not mean…”  
“I’m sorry where you lying?” Stark asked, turning the screen, he’d been looking at, so that it was facing Steve and Director Fury. The screen showed blue prints for the weapons and plans for other weapons that could be made using the cube.   
“I’m sorry director world hasn’t changed a bit,” Steve stated.   
Suddenly Natasha and Thor walked into the room, and Natasha glanced over at my dad. Suddenly my senses kicked into over drive, making me feel dizzy. Oh crap something bad is about to happen.  
“Did you know about this?” Dad asked Natasha, motioning to the screen.  
“You wanna think about removing yourself from this environment doctor,” Natasha countered.  
“I was in Calcutta I was pretty well removed,” Dad replied.   
My sense of hearing was especially going nuts. Every word they said was like a bomb going off next to my head. I could hear everything that was being said throughout the ship. I could hear every breath, every footstep, every shout. My brain was overloading from the over use of my senses.   
“Loki’s, manipulating you,” Natasha stated.   
I put my hand to my head as my eyes magnified everything by like a thousand times, and my sense of smell was magnified by like a million. I could smell the food cooking in the mess hall a floor below us.   
“And you’ve been doing what exactly?” Dad asked Natasha.   
I was standing by one of the computers, and Thor was blocking my view of dad but I could tell that he was starting to get angry. I wanted to walk over to him and try to calm him down, but the overload on my senses kept me rooted to where I was standing.  
“You didn’t come here cause I bated my eye lashes at you,” Natasha replied.   
Oh, man something really bad must be about to happen. I wanted to speak up, and warn them, but once again the overload on my senses made it hard to speak.  
“Well I’m not leaving cause suddenly you get a little twitchy. I want to know why S.H.I.E.L.D. is using the Tesseract to build weapons of mass destruction,” Dad said.  
“Because of him,” Director Fury replied, pointing at Thor.  
“Me?” Thor asked.  
“Last year Earth had a visitor from another planet who had a grudge match that leveled a small town. We learned that not only are we not alone but we are hopelessly, hilariously out gunned,” Director Fury explained.  
“By people who want nothing but peace with your planet,” Thor stated.  
“But you’re not the only people out there are you, and you’re not the only threat, the world’s filling up with people who can’t be matched. They can’t be controlled,” Director Fury said.  
“Like you control the cube?” Steve asked.  
“Your work with the Tesseract is what drew Loki to it, and his allies. It is a signal to all the realms that the earth is ready for a higher form of war,” Thor stated.   
“Higher form?” Steve asked, sounding incredulous.  
“You forced our hand; we had to call upon some…”  
“Nuclear deterrent, cause that always calms everything right down,” Stark said, cutting Director Fury off.  
“Remind me again how you made your fortune Stark,” Director Fury said.  
“I’m sure if he still made weapons Stark would be neck deep,” Steve stated.   
“Whoa wait hold on how is this now about me?” Stark asked.   
My senses had kicked so far into overdrive that I was almost on my knees; the only thing keeping me standing was the computer which I’d been leaning against for the past few minutes.   
“I’m sorry isn’t everything?” Steve asked.  
“I thought humans where more evolved than this,” Thor stated arrogantly.  
“Excuse me did we come to your planet and…”   
Thor cut him off, but I didn’t hear what he said, cause everybody started talking at once, and I had a massive head ache. I looked up in the direction of dad, and I noticed that the spear was glowing brighter behind him, but I couldn’t see dad’s face. I wanted to say something, but I was struck by a wave of voices from all over the ship, and I felt like I was going to throw up. The edges of my vision was starting to go black, and I’m afraid any moment now I might pass out.   
“I mean what are we a team? No, no we’re a chemical mixture that makes chaos. We’re… we’re a time bomb,” Dad exclaimed.  
“You need to steep away,” Director Fury stated.   
Crap I don’t like this, what if the bad thing is dad hulking out. I put my hand to my head, as every sense magnified by like two million.   
“Why shouldn’t the guy let off a little steam?” Stark asked, placing his hand on Steve’s shoulder.  
“You know damn well why. Back off,” Steve shouted, shoving Stark’s arm away from him.  
“Why don’t you make me?” Stark asked.  
“Yeah the big man in a suit of armor take that off what are you?” Steve asked.  
“Genius, billionaire, playboy, philanthropist,” Stark stated.  
“I know a lot of guys without that worth ten of you, I’ve seen the footage. The only thing you really fight for is yourself; you’re not the one to make the sacrifice play. To lie down on a wire and let the other guy crawl over you,” Steve replied.   
Everyone’s shouting was starting to get to me, and I could feel tears rolling down my face, and I could feel a trail of blood rolling down my face from my right ear. God everything is so loud! I squeezed my eyes shut and clamped my hands over my ears trying to block out all the sounds around me.   
“I think I would just cut the wire,” Stark stated.  
“Always a way out, you know you may not be a threat, but you better stop pretending to be a hero,” Steve said.  
“A hero like you, you’re a laboratory experiment Rogers. Everything special about you came out of a bottle,” Stark said.   
I heard a thud come from somewhere outside the ship, and suddenly I could hear beeping coming from somewhere outside the ship, but I have no idea what’s making the beeping sound.  
“Put on the suit,” Steve ordered. I heard Thor laugh.  
“You people are so petty… and tiny,” Thor stated.  
“Agent Romanoff would you escort Dr. Banner back to…”  
“Where you rented my room,” Dad said, cutting Director Fury off.  
“The cell was just in case…”  
“In case you needed to kill me, but you can’t, I know I tried,” Dad shouted. I felt all the blood drain from my face.   
“I got low I didn’t see an end so I put a bullet in my mouth, and the other guy spit it out. So I moved on, I focused on helping people. I was good until you dragged me back into this freak show. Put everyone here at risk, you want to know what my secret is agent Romanoff you wanna know how I stay calm,” Dad shouted. Dad had picked up the scepter, and Director Fury reached for his gun.  
“Dr. Banner… put down the scepter,” Director Fury ordered.   
Suddenly the computer beeped, and dad put the scepter down. That’s when all my senses went back to normal, and I sighed in relief. I still had a massive headache, but I could move again without almost falling on my face. I wiped away the blood and tears off my face, and glanced up at dad.   
“Sorry kids you don’t get to see my party trick after all,” Dad said, walking over to the computer that I’d been using to keep me standing.   
He glanced over at me worriedly and I just shook my head and mouthed ‘I’m fine’.  
“You located the Tesseract?” Thor asked.   
I could hear them all talking but I wasn’t paying attention. I was staring at the screen. Dad looked over at me for a second then back at the screen.   
“Put on the suit let’s find out,” Steve shouted. Dad took his glasses off.  
“Oh, my god,” He exclaimed.   
I couldn’t believe this. So, this is why my senses went nuts. Suddenly there was a massive explosion, and the ground beneath me disappeared…


	6. Hulk outs and stolen jets

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I don’t own the Avengers or any of the Marvel comics characters, though I do own my original characters.

Dust lingered in the air around me causing me to cough as I woke up. I could feel a weight against the lower half of my body and I groaned at the oppressive feeling. I lifted my head and looked back to see that the lower half of my body is pinned under a large pile of rubble. Great just what I need! I glanced around me and noticed Natasha lying on the floor a few feet away from me, her legs pinned under a beam. I turned my head to see dad lying face down on the floor, writhing in pain. Crap this is not going to end well.   
“We’re okay,” Natasha said, into her ear piece. I glanced back over at her and she looked at me with worry before glancing back at dad.  
“We’re okay, right? Dr. … Bruce you gotta fight it. It’s just what Loki wants, we’re gonna be okay,” Natasha stated.   
I glanced around to try and find something I could use to pry up the rubble around my legs, but couldn’t find anything.   
“We’re gonna be okay, I swear on my life I will get you out of this. You will walk away and never…”   
“Your life,” Dad shouted. His voice sound distorted.  
“Dad we’re gonna be okay,” I spoke up in an attempt to calm down.   
Dad turned to look at me, and I saw his eyes go wide when he saw me. He looked back at my legs which were pinned, and I saw a pained look cross his face. I could only imagine what was going through his mind right now. I watched as his shirt tore into pieces, as his muscles grew, and his skin turned green. Natasha managed to wiggle out from underneath the beam, and she turned towards me, but I shook my head. There was no way she’d be able to free me before the hulk came after her.  
“Just go,” I shouted.   
She hesitated for a second, then took off. Suddenly the hulk was standing in front of me. He looked down at me with a puzzled looked. He seemed confused as if he was trying to figure out who I am. Suddenly a bullet whizzed past us, and the hulk looked over at Natasha. He roared and took off after her. I struggled to get free, but it was no use. With my heightened sense of hearing I could hear the Hulk chasing Natasha through the Helicarrier. I once again tried to free myself from under the rubble but the rubble didn’t even budge. The blood flow to the lower half of my body was practically cut off, and my legs were starting to tingle.   
“Help, someone help me,” I shouted. I heard someone running towards me. I looked up to see Thor.  
“Lady Cat are you all right?” He asked.  
“Yeah, I’m fine… well actually no I’m not, my legs are stuck under all that ruble, and it’s really starting to hurt,” I grumbled, looking back at the ruble covering my legs.   
“I’ll have you out in a minute,” Thor stated.   
I sighed, and rested my head on the floor. After a couple of minutes the pressure on my legs disappeared and Thor grabbed my arm, and pulled me up off the ground. That’s when I remembered dad and Natasha.  
“Crap we have to find Natasha before the hulk gets her,” I shouted, running in the direction that Natasha had run.   
I could hear Thor running behind me. I followed the path of destruction left by the hulk, and the sound of Natasha’s ragged breathing. After what felt like hours of searching I finally caught sight of the hulk  
“Lady Cat, stay here I will attempt to stop the hulk,” Thor ordered, stepping forward.  
“What, why?” I asked, a bit hurt.  
“So you do not get hurt, Dr. Banner would never forgive himself if he hurt you,” Thor explained, walking away.   
Well he had a point. I sighed. When the hulk and Thor had disappeared I rushed over to Natasha.   
“Nat are you okay?” I asked.   
She nodded her head. I glanced her over looking for any injuries and all I could see was a small cut along her hair line that was bleeding sluggishly. I could hear Thor and the Hulk fighting and I couldn’t help but worry for my dad.   
“I’m gonna go see how Thor’s holding up against the hulk,” I stated. Natasha grabbed my arm, and shook her head.  
“Don’t worry I won’t go near them, I’ll stay off to the side. I just gotta know if he’s okay,” I replied.   
Natasha nodded her head, and let go of my arm. I ran down the hallway, and into the room that Thor and the hulk where fighting in. The hulk was walking towards Thor, when suddenly the glass behind him shattered, and bullets flew at the hulks back. The bullets sprayed across the room and I ducked down to the floor a shout of surprise and fear leaving me. I up and could see a jet hovering outside the ship. The hulk was looking from me to the jet and he growled at the jet. He glanced at me again for a second before he turned towards the jet, and ran at it.  
“No,” I screamed, running towards the hulk in an attempt to stop him from jumping, but a pair of strong arm wrapped around me, keeping me from moving forward.   
The hulk jumped, and landed on the jet. I could only watch as he started tearing the jet apart, and feared for the man inside the jet. Suddenly the man from the jet. The hulk grabbed him and flung him to the side. The man’s parachute opened and he drifted away, and I sighed in relief that the man was safe. Suddenly the jet exploded, sending the hulk flying away. I kicked at the person holding me, trying to get him to let go.  
“Dad,” I screamed, tears coming to my eyes.   
I kicked even harder, but it didn’t seem to affect the person holding me. I looked back at the person, not at all surprised to see that it was Thor. I stopped kicking.  
“You can let me go now,” I whispered.   
Thor nodded his head, and released me. I walked over to the now destroyed window, and looked down at the ground. I felt Thor’s grip on my arm.  
“Lady Cat will you be okay?” He asked. I nodded my head.  
“Go, find Loki, and when you do tell him that I’m gonna kick his arse,” I grumbled, not looking at Thor.   
He walked away, and I stared out the window. I heightened my sense of sight, and searched for the hulk. I spotted him falling rapidly towards the ground. I watched as he fell through a warehouse, then he shifted back into my dad. I felt a tear run down my face, having no idea if he could survive a fall like that. I’d already lost mom, and I was not prepared to lose dad so soon. Then I saw dad shift slightly, his eyes opened for a second, but closed again. I looked carefully at him, and noticed the slight movement of his chest as he breathed. Holly crap he’s alive!!! Thanks to the hulk I think. I couldn’t help but smile, knowing dad was gonna be okay. I closed my eyes, and let my vision return to normal, and sent up a silent prayer to god in thanks.   
I turned, and ran out of the room a plan forming in my mind. I ran through the hallways, then threw a door, which lead me outside. I had to get to dad, and if that meant stealing one of the jets, then that’s what I was going to do. Thank god for the fact that me and mom had taken flying lessons almost three years ago. Mom had always been interested in learning how to fly and it was something that we got to do together before she died. I stopped; maybe I should tell everyone what I was doing first? Suddenly the ship tilted to one side, and I stumbled to the floor, smacking the ground hard. My palms stung, and I glanced at them to see that they were scrapped up and blood was running down my hands. A man ran over to me, and helped me up.  
“Are you okay?” He asked. I nodded my head, and he turned to leave but I stopped him.  
“Wait do you have one of those ear piece communicator thingies?” I asked. He gave me a funny look.  
“I need to get a message to Nat… Agent Romanoff,” I explained.   
The man nodded his head, and handed me one of the ear piece things. I stuck it in my ear, and walked away from the man.  
“Nat can you hear me?” I asked. At first all I heard was static.  
“Cat is that you?” Natasha asked.  
“Yeah it’s me, who else can hear me?” I asked.  
“Hey toots what’s up?” Stark asked. I stopped walking for a second.  
“Stark don’t call me that,” I shouted.  
“Stark quit it,” Fury said.   
He sounded pissed. Well I would be to if someone attacked and damaged my expensive Helicarrier.   
“What did you need Cat?” Natasha asked me.  
“Oh well first I wanted to say that Dad’s fine, I saw him land but he was kind of out of it,” I started.  
“You saw him land?” Natasha asked.  
“Yeah it’s part of her ability. She can heighten her senses,” Stark explained.  
“What was the second thing?” Fury asked.  
“I’m just going to apologize for this in advance, but I’m stealing one of your jets so I can go meet up with dad,” I stated, walking towards a jet.  
“What? But how?” Natasha asked.  
“Oh, please me and mom learned how to fly all sorts of aircrafts a few years ago,” I stated.  
“Sounds just like her,” Stark said. I frowned.  
“You do not have permission to take a jet,” Fury said.  
“Which is why I said steal,” I quipped.  
I turned the tiny device off, but left it in my ear. I walked over to a jet, and opened the door, but before I could step inside someone had grabbed me. I looked back to see an agent holding onto my arm. I glared at him, then I noticed something funny, his eyes where a weird shade of blue.  
“Ah the daughter of the beast,” A voice said.   
I turned to see Loki standing a few feet away from me. Oh this is not good. I stomped my foot down onto the foot of the man holding my arm. He grunted in pain. I gritted my teeth, and hit him in the face with my elbow. This time he let go of my arm, and I kicked him in the stomach. He fell back and hit his head on the jet. I heard Loki laugh.  
“Impressive,” He said.   
I glared at him as he walked closer to me. I still wanted to kick his ass, I know I’m no match for a damn demigod from another planet, but that doesn’t mean I can’t try. I could see several agents walking behind him, and all of them had the same weird shade of blue to their eyes. The agents walked past him, and jumped into the jet that I’d been about to take. One of them turned to grab me, but I grabbed his hand, and flipped him onto the ground. At least I’m still strong enough to defend myself from normal humans. I turned back to see Loki only a few inches away from me. I tried to kick him, but he was too fast. Suddenly he was right behind me. I turned, and tried to punch him, but he grabbed my arm, and twisted it behind my back.   
“We’re going for a little ride,” Loki said, pushing me into the jet.   
He shoved me towards a seat, and I fell down on the seat. The back of the jet closed, and the jet took off. I reached up to my ear, and pretended to be scratching my ear, but I was really turning the tiny communication device back on.   
“So where are we headed?” I asked. Loki just smirked at me.   
“Cat what are you talking about?” Steve asked. So, he must have been listening in on what me, Natasha, Stark, and Fury had been saying.   
“Oh come on Loki be a gentlemen. Give me a hint as to where we’re going,” I said.   
I heard both Natasha, and Fury curse. But I got no response from Loki. I gritted my teeth. I hate it when people ignore my questions. I crossed my arms, and glared at him. He turned to look at the front of the jet.  
“Oh, come on I think I deserve to know where the heck you’re taking me,” I shouted.   
He raised his scepter towards me, and rested the tip against my chest. I felt a surge of power rush out of the scepter, and through my body. I felt a mist start to form around my mind, and everything turned blue.


	7. Confrontations and alien invasions

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I don’t own the Avengers or any of the Marvel comics characters, though I do own my original characters.

I was surrounded by a thick blue mist. Everywhere I turned all I saw was blue. Images flashed across my vision every now and then; the tesseract, a man with purple skin, alien creatures. It felt wrong, very wrong. I could vaguely make out Loki sitting across from me in the back of the jet, though the image was hazy. Everything around me was muted and hazy, the colors, the sounds, the smells. It was like someone had dropped a curtain over my senses in an attempt to pacify me. I focused on all my senses trying unmute all of it. It was tough as if the haze around me was fighting back, trying to keep hold of me. It took some time but I managed to push my way through the haze of blue, and when I was finally free I was left with one hell of a headache. I groaned and put my head in my hands, feeling as if I was gonna either throw up or pass out.   
“Seems I underestimated your powers,” Loki mused.   
I glanced up at him and scowled at the smirk that was plastered across his face. Oh I so wish I could kick his ass…  
~(^.^)~  
Three hours later  
The jet had dropped us off at Stark’s tower in New York. I could see Selvig working on a device on top of the tower. Loki lead me inside the building and I sat down on a couch feeling very tired and annoyed.  
“So why grab me?” I asked, glaring at him.  
“Because you’re their weak point, something that can be used against them,” He replied, smirking.   
I watched as Loki paced outside on the balcony. There was no way I’d be able to sneak out of here without him noticing me. Suddenly iron man was flying towards the tower. He landed on one side of the balcony, and started walking towards the building, while his machines took off his suit. Loki walked into the room. Tony glanced at me for a second, a look of worry plastered across his face.  
“Please tell me you’re going to appeal to my humanity,” Loki exclaimed, bringing Tony’s attention to him.  
“Uh actually I was going to threaten you,” Tony replied. I chuckled. He always did have a flare for the dramatics.   
“Should have left your armor on for that,” Loki stated.  
“Yeah got a little bit of mileage, you’d like a drink?” Tony asked him, walking towards the bar.  
“Stalling me won’t change anything,” Loki said.   
“No drink you sure, I’m having one,” Tony said.  
“The Chitauri are coming, nothing will change that. What have I to fear?” Loki asked.  
“The Avengers, that’s what we call ourselves. Sort of like a team, Earth’s mightiest hero’s,” Tony replied, pouring himself a drink.  
“Yes, I’ve met them,” Loki replied, rolling his eyes. Stark laughed.  
“Takes us a while to get any traction I’ll give you that one. But let’s do a head count here. Your brother the demi-god, a super soldier, a man with breath taking anger management issues, a couple master assassins, a girl with the ability to heighten all her sense who also eats like a thousand candy bars a day, and you big guy, you managed to piss off every single one of them,” Tony stated.   
I was shocked that he’d mentioned me as an avenger, and a bit mad that he’d mentioned my metabolism problem.  
“That was the plan,” Loki replied.  
“Not a great plan, when they come and they will, they’ll come for you,” Tony said.  
“I have an army,” Loki stated.  
“We have a hulk,” Stark said. I couldn’t help but laugh, and Loki scowled at me.  
“I thought the beast had wondered off,” Loki exclaimed, smirking at me.   
I frowned at that. I have no clue as to where dad is right now, but one thing I’m sure of, he will find me.  
“You’re missing the point, there’s no throne. There is no version of this where you come out on top. Maybe your army comes and maybe it’s too much for us, but it’s all on you. Cause if we can’t protect the Earth you can be damn well sure we’ll avenge it,” Tony stated.  
“How will your friends have time for me when they’re fighting you?” Loki asked, resting the tip of the scepter on stark’s chest. But nothing happened.  
“This usually works,” Loki mumbled, tapping his chest again.  
“Performance issues,” Tony said.   
I chuckled at that. Suddenly Loki grabbed Tony by the throat, and tossed him onto the floor.  
“Jarvis deploy,” Tony exclaimed.   
Loki grabbed him by the throat again, and tossed him out the window.   
“Tony!!!” I screamed, jumping up off the couch.   
I ran to the window, and glanced out. I could see Tony falling through the air. Then something shot past me, and out the window. It flew towards Tony, and wrapped around him. Then iron man flew back up, and stopped just outside the window.   
“And there’s one other person you pissed off. His name was Phil,” Stark said.   
Loki raised his scepter to fire at Tony, but Tony raised his arm, and blasted Loki who flew back onto the floor. Then I felt a pair of cold metal arms wrap around me.  
“I’m gonna take you to the roof, see if you can stop the portal from opening,” Tony stated.   
I nodded my head. Suddenly what Tony had said a few moments ago, hit me.  
“Tony what did you mean when you said his name was Phil?” I asked.   
Tony set me down on the roof top, and looked at me, but I couldn’t see his face because of the mask.  
“Tony what happened to agent Coulson?” I asked, tears forming in my eyes.  
At that moment, the portal opened, and a bright blue beam shot up into the sky. I watched as dozens of aliens flew through the portal. Tony flew off, and I was left standing there by myself. Oh wait scratch that I’m not alone. Selvig was lying on the ground a few feet away from me. I walked over to him, and put my hand on his neck, checking for a pulse. Okay good he’s still alive, maybe he’ll be able to help me shut down the portal.  
I sighed and looked over at the Tesseract. I have absolutely no idea what to do to close that portal, and this headache isn’t helping any. Suddenly I heard someone move a few floors below me, and I moved to see who it was. Loki had walked out onto the balcony where Stark had first landed a few minutes ago. He looked up and me and scowled. That’s when Thor landed on the balcony.  
“Loki turn off the Tesseract or I’ll destroy it,” Thor shouted.  
“You can’t, there is no stopping it. There is only the war,” Loki replied.  
“So be it,” Thor shouted.   
Loki charged at Thor. I watched as the two of them fought. Then I saw a jet flying towards the tower. It stopped in front of the spot where Thor and Loki were fighting. Loki shot at the jet, and hit one of the wings. The jet flew off, and I saw it crash into the ground. I tapped my ear piece, turning it on.  
“Guys you all right?” I asked.  
“Yeah, we’re fine,” Natasha replied, through the ear piece.   
I looked up at the portal, to see a giant snake like alien come through.  
“Look at this, look around you; you think this madness will end with your rule?” Thor shouted.   
I looked around at the city. Buildings where falling down, and the place looked like crap.  
“It’s too late, it’s too late to stop it,” Loki said. Oh so now he wants to stop it!!!   
“No we can stop it together,” Thor replied.   
Suddenly Loki pulled out a small knife, and stabbed Thor in the side.  
“Thor!!!” I shouted.   
Loki looked back at me, then suddenly he disappeared. Crap where the heck did he go. Suddenly I felt a sharp pain in my shoulder, and I looked down to see the tip of Loki’s scepter sticking out of my shoulder, then it was gone. I turned to see Loki standing behind me, with his scepter in hand. I could see blood dripping from the tip of the scepter, then he was gone. I turned to look back down at Thor. Loki had reappeared in front of him.  
“Sentiment,” Loki mumbled, shaking his head.   
Thor looked up at me for a second, and I saw his eyes go to where Loki had stabbed me. I hadn’t realized it, but I had instinctively raised my arm to cover the wound. Thor stood up and grabbed Loki. He raised Loki into the air and tossed him onto the floor. Loki rolled off the balcony, and I watched as an alien glider thing caught him, and flew off.  
“Lady Cat are you all right?” Thor asked, looking up at me worriedly.  
“I’ll be fine, go help the others. Oh and if you see my dad don’t let him know I’m hurt,” I replied.   
Thor stood there for a second before nodding his head, and flying off. I heard Selvig groan behind me, and I turned to look at him. He shifted slightly but didn’t get up. I could feel blood pouring onto the hand I’d had over my wound, and it hurt when I moved my arm. I focused on my ability, and tried to make the pain duller. I’d done it once before, when I’d fallen out of a tree and broke my leg, but back then I hadn’t been trying to take the pain away. Well pain is a sense so why shouldn’t I be able to control how much pain I felt. After a couple seconds of focusing on my ability I managed to dull the pain in my shoulder. I walked over to Selvig, and bent down next to him. He’s the only person who could possibly tell me how to turn off the portal.  
“Dr. Selvig are you all right?” I asked. I could see a gash across his head that was bleeding slightly. He groaned, but didn’t move.   
“We’ve got him,” I heard Steve say. Who, who do they have.  
“Who?” I asked, looking over the edge of the building.  
“Dr. Banner,” A man I didn’t recognize said. I didn’t know whether or not to be happy or upset.  
“Tell him I said to be careful,” I said.  
“Will do,” Natasha replied.   
I glanced at Dr. Selvig one more time. It didn’t look like he was gonna wake up anytime soon, so I slid down onto the ground, and looked at my shoulder. My grey Batman T-shirt was soaked in blood, and I scowled. Bastard ruined my favorite shirt! I sighed, man this day sucks, aliens are invading the planet, and my favorite shirt gets messed up. I looked up at the sky, but the only thing I saw was the portal. Several more of those snake things came flying out of the portal. I sat back, and closed my eyes…  
~(^.^)~  
A short time later  
…I opened my eyes at the sound of a blast. I stood up slowly, and looked over the edge of the roof. Loki was lying on the balcony. He stood up, and I heard someone land on the roof behind me. I turned my head to see Natasha. She looked at me, and her eyes went wide staring at the hole in my shoulder.  
“Cat, oh my god, are you okay?” Natasha asked, running over to me. I nodded my head.  
“Yeah I’m fine, can’t feel a thing thanks to my ability,” I replied.   
“Stark told us about your ability, but I didn’t know you could use it to block out pain, and just cause you can’t feel anything doesn’t make you okay,” She grumbled, looking over my wound. I turned back to look at the balcony.  
“Puny god,” hulk said walking out of the tower. Oh come on, I missed the hulk and Loki face off! I wonder what happened?  
“Scepter,” Selvig exclaimed suddenly, looking over the edge of the roof top.   
I jumped at the sound of his voice. Shit when the hell did he wake up?! Natasha turned towards the man. I watched as the hulk jumped from building to building, taking any alien in his path down. A smile made its way onto my face as I watched dad take out the aliens. Finally, after a minute or two the Hulk disappeared out of my line of sight. I sighed and looked down at the balcony to see Natasha standing down there. She bent down and grabbed Loki’s scepter off the ground.   
Whoa wait, when did she… how did she… why did she… Oh my head hurts! I slumped down on the ground, and put my hand over the wound, and put pressure on it. I was feeling really dizzy. Maybe it was the blood loss, or maybe the headache from breaking through that mist, or maybe both. Suddenly Natasha was back up on the roof with the scepter in her hands.


	8. Closed Portals and bleeding wounds

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I don’t own the Avengers or any of the Marvel comics characters, though I do own my original characters.

I watched as Natasha approached the Tesseract. She looked it over for a few seconds, then pushed the scepter through a barrier around the Tesseract.  
“I can close it. Can anybody copy? I can shut the portal down,” Natasha said.  
“Do it,” Steve said.  
“No wait,” Tony exclaimed.   
“Stark these things are still coming,” Steve replied.   
“I got a nuke coming in, it’s gonna blow in less than a minute. And I know just where to put it,” Tony explained.   
A nuke?! Where the hell did, a damn nuke come from? Who the hell launched a fucking Nuke at New York City?!  
“Stark you know that’s a one-way trip,” Steve stated.   
I watched as Stark flew past us with the nuke in his hands. His armor was dented from fighting, and it looked like it would stop working at any second. He flew through the portal, and after a couple of seconds I saw the nuke explode. But Tony didn’t come back through the portal. Tears rolled down my face. He has to make it!  
“Come on Stark,” Natasha mumbled.  
“Close it,” Steve ordered.   
Natasha pushed the scepter into the Tesseract, and the portal closed. I looked up at where the portal used to be, feeling my heart break at the thought of him not making it. I could see a figure falling from the sky, and I sat up slightly, a smile forming on my face.  
“Sun of a gun,” Steve exclaimed. He made it! But my happiness was short lived as I noticed that Tony wasn’t slowing down.  
“He’s not slowing down,” Thor exclaimed.   
If he hit the ground at the speed he’s falling it would kill him. Suddenly out of nowhere the hulk grabbed Tony, slammed into a building, then jumped down to the ground. It was quiet, and I wondered if Tony was okay. I waited a couple seconds, hoping that someone would say he’s okay. Suddenly I heard the Hulk roar loudly, and then there was a gasp over the coms.   
“What the hell,” Tony exclaimed, “What just happened please tell me nobody kissed me.”  
“We won,” Steve replied.  
“All right yay all right. Good job guys, let’s just not come in tomorrow. Let’s take a day. You ever try shawarma, there’s a shawarma joint about two blocks from here. I don’t know what it is but I want to try it,” Tony rambled.  
“We’re not finished yet,” Thor stated.   
“Right, after then,” Tony muttered.  
“We’re heading towards your location Natasha,” Steve stated.  
I looked over at Natasha, who’d dropped the scepter. She was looking at my shoulder her face an unreadable mask, and I looked down. Even though I couldn’t feel anything because of my ability I knew this was bad. Not only has the wound been bleeding from the front, but it’s also been bleeding from the back. I have no idea how much blood I’ve lost, but I know it has to be a lot.  
“Come on help me down there,” I said to Natasha, reaching out for her hand.   
She nodded her head, and put my good arm around her shoulder. We walked down a set of stairs with Selvig right behind us. We entered the living room of the tower, where Loki was lying in a crater on the floor. Man the hulk really did a number on him. Natasha set me down on the floor next to the bar. I leaned against the bar, and put my hand over my wound. By shoulder, arm, and hands were completely covered in blood and I cringed. Defiantly gonna need one hell of a shower after this!  
“Could you look after her?” Natasha asked Selvig.   
He nodded his head, and sat down next to me. I felt his hand go to my wound, looking it over. I watched as the avengers all gathered in the room, but none of them seemed to notice me lying against the bar. Maybe it was cause Selvig was blocking their view of me. Loki started to get up, and all the avengers aimed their weapons at him.  
“If it’s all the same to you I’ll have that drink now,” Loki said.   
Thor grabbed Loki and dragged him across the room so he was sitting on the couch.  
“Dr. Banner it’s nice to have you back,” Steve said.   
I looked over in their direction to see dad standing there, holding up his pants. I smiled at the sight of him. My concentration on my ability slipped as dizziness took over and suddenly I felt pain shooting through my shoulder. I screamed as the pain moved through my body, making everything feel like it was on fire.  
“Cat!” Dad shouted, running over to me. I tried to take a deep breath, but it hurt like crazy. The edges of my vision were starting to go black.  
“Hey,” I mumbled, looking up at him. He was staring at my shoulder.  
“It’s… not as bad… as it looks,” I slurred. Damn it was getting hard to speak. Dad gave me a funny look as he sat down next to me.  
“Okay… it’s as bad as it looks,” I slurred. My fingers where numb, and I was starting to feel really cold.  
“We need to get her to a hospital,” Dad shouted. I felt really tired, and I closed my eyes.  
“No stay with me Cat. Come on open your eyes,” Dad shouted.   
I opened my eyes, and looked at him, but it was really hard to keep them open. I could see everyone had gathered around me.  
“Uh the only hospital that’s close to here was destroyed in the battle,” Tony exclaimed.   
“Well what do we do?” Natasha asked.   
I looked at dad, who was putting pressure on the gaping hole in my shoulder, in an attempt to stop the bleeding.  
“Uh you’re gonna need to take care of my back to,” I mumbled.   
“What do you mean?” Dad asked.   
I opened my mouth but nothing came out. Dad slowly leaned me forward, and looked at my back. I heard him gasp when he saw my back.  
“Holy crap, what the heck happened to you?” Asked Tony.   
I pointed over at Loki. Dad turned, and looked at Loki, who was sitting on the couch, trying to recover from his encounter with the hulk. Dad set me back against the bar, and a guy I’d never seen before handed dad a pillow.  
“Here use this,” The man said. Dad took the pillow, and put it behind me.  
“Hey I’m Cat,” I mumbled to the man. He smiled.  
“Clint,” He said.   
I looked him over. He has short blond hair, and blue eyes. There was a bow strapped across his back. This must be that friend Natasha said was taken by Loki. I glanced back at dad and watched him look over my wound. My eyes where so heavy now that I couldn’t keep them open.  
“Cat come on open your eyes,” Dad said.  
“Can’t there to heavy, and I’m so tired,” I mumbled.   
Dad said something, but I couldn’t hear what. I could feel myself slipping away. No I don’t want to go, I don’t want to leave dad here by himself. I could just barely hear people talking above me, but their voice’s seemed to be getting farther away, until I couldn’t hear them anymore…


	9. Stitches and slings

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I don’t own the Avengers or any of the Marvel comics characters, though I do own my original characters.

Bruce’s P.O.V. {A few minutes earlier}  
I felt myself shrinking down to normal size, and when I was me again I looked around the room to see everyone standing around Loki, who was now sitting on the couch. I had to hold onto my pants so they wouldn’t fall down.  
“Dr. Banner it’s nice to have you back,” Steve said.   
I nodded my head. Suddenly I heard a scream from across the room. Everyone, myself included, turned towards the noise. I saw someone lying on the ground propped up against the bar, and a man was sitting in front of the person. I looked carefully at the person. When suddenly it hit me that the only person I hadn’t seen standing around the room was Cat.  
“Cat!” I shouted, running over to her. Her shoulder, and arm was completely soaked in blood, and I could see a massive hole in her shoulder.  
“Hey,” She mumbled, looking at me. I couldn’t stop staring at her shoulder.  
“It’s… not as bad… as it looks,” She slurred.   
I gave her a funny look, and sat down next to her. I put my hands over the wound, and put pressure on it.   
“Okay… it’s as bad as it looks,” She slurred.   
Damn this is bad; she’s lost so much blood. She was barely breath, and her body was starting to feel cold.  
“We need to get her to a hospital,” I shouted. Cat closed her eyes. Crap!  
“No stay with me Cat. Come on open your eyes,” I shouted. She opened her eyes and looked at me.  
“Uh the only hospital that’s close to here was destroyed in the battle,” Stark exclaimed.  
“Well what do we do?” Natasha asked.   
“Uh you’re gonna need to take care of my back to,” She mumbled. What was she talking about?  
“What do you mean?” I asked.   
She opened her mouth but nothing came out. I carefully leaned her forward and looked at her back. What I saw made me gasp. Her back was covered in blood as well, and there was a massive gash on her back.   
“Holy crap, what the heck happened to you?” Stark asked.   
She pointed over at Loki. I turned to look at Loki who was sitting on the couch. I could feel the other guy trying get out, but I held him back. The Hulk seemed to know who Cat was and wanted to protect her just as much as I do, but now is not the time to hulk out. I set her back against the bar gently.  
“Here use this,” Clint said, handing me a pillow. I put the pillow behind her.  
“Hey I’m Cat,” She mumbled to him.   
“Clint,” He replied. Cat seemed to look him over for a few seconds, then glanced up at me. She shut her eyes, and her breathing slowed down even more.  
“Cat come on open your eyes,” I said.  
“Can’t they’re too heavy, and I’m so tired,” she mumbled. Crap this is not good.  
“Is there a medical facility in the tower?” I asked Stark.   
“Yeah Pepper thought it would be a good idea. You go change into some new clothes, and I’ll take her down there,” Stark said, walking over.   
“I don’t have any spare clothes,” I stated, not moving from Cat’s side.   
“In the next room there’s a dresser. You can borrow some of my clothes,” Stark replied. I hesitated for a moment before getting up…  
~(^.^)~  
Stark’s P.O.V.  
“In the next room, there’s a dresser. You can borrow some of my clothes,” I said. Bruce sat there for a second, before getting up and walking into the next room.  
“Tell him to go down two floors, it’s the first room to the left, after you come out of the elevator,” I said to Natasha.   
She nodded her head, and I picked Cat up, and flew off towards the stairs. The elevator would take too long. I flew down the stairs, through the hallway, into the medical facility, and looked around. There was a gurney pushed against a wall in the corner. I flew over to it, and set Cat down on it.   
“Sir the suit is running out of power,” JARVIS said.   
I sighed, and plopped down onto the ground. At that moment Bruce walked in. He ran over to Cat, and looked her over.  
“I’ll be right back, I need to get this suit off,” I exclaimed.   
Bruce nodded his head, and I walked out of the room. I passed Steve and Natasha on my way out. Clint and Thor must still be with Loki.   
~(^.^)~  
Bruce’s P.O.V.  
“Bruce how is she?” Natasha asked, from behind me.  
“Not good,” I mumbled, applying pressure to the wound. I looked around me.  
“Can you look for a medical kit?” I asked, looking back at Natasha, and Steve.   
They both nodded their heads, and started searching the room. A few seconds later Stark walked back into the room.   
“Stark where’s the medical kit?” Steve asked, sounding irritated.   
Stark walked past Steve, and headed for a cabinet in the corner. He opened the cabinet, and pulled a small box out of it. He carried the box over to me, and set it down next to Cat on the gurney. Stark walked away, and came back with a monitor. I looked at it for a second not sure what it was at first. Then I realized it was a heart monitor.  
“Good idea,” I mumbled.   
I set up the monitor, and watched for a couple seconds as the monitor showed her heart beat. It was beating at an irregular pace.   
“Well you managed to stop the bleeding from the front side of the wound, but the back of it’s still bleeding,” Stark stated.   
I looked back at her. Stark had rolled her onto her side so he could see the wound on her back.  
“Keep pressure on her back, while I try to close the wound on this side,” I ordered.   
Stark nodded his head, and set his hand over the wound on her back. I looked through the medical kit, and grabbed the supplies I’d need to close the wound. I had to rip her shirt open slightly in order to get better access to the wound. Suddenly Steve was standing next to me holding out a basin full of water and a rag.   
“Thanks,” I murmured. I quickly cleaned the blood off her skin around the wound.  
“Director Fury said he’s sending someone to pick up Loki, they should be here within the hour,” Natasha stated.   
I just nodded my head, and got to work on stitching up the wound. It took me three minutes and thirty-five stitches to close up the wound. I bandaged up the front half of her wound with a large gauze pad and some medical tape.   
“All right now roll her onto her stomach so I can stitch up the back of the wound,” I ordered. Stark rolled her onto her stomach, and I started stitching up the wound.   
“She’s lost a lot of blood. She’s going to need a transfusion,” I stated. Stark nodded his head.  
“Yeah got it,” Stark replied, walking away.   
He came back just as I was finishing stitching up the wound. He handed me the bag. I looked down at it. Blood type: O-. I looked up at Stark.  
“How do you know what blood type she is?” I asked.  
“Her mom used to work for me, and well she was kind of accident prone,” Stark replied, shrugging his shoulders.   
I nodded my head, and turned back to Cat. Her face was really pale, so pale that she looked like a ghost. I set the bag up, and watched as the blood slowly went into her arm. I put a bandage over the wound I’d just finished stitching up. I rolled her back onto her back. I cleaned off the rest of the blood that was covering her arm.  
“Now what?” Steve asked.   
I turned to look at them.  
“Now we wait to see if she’ll be okay,” I mumbled.   
Suddenly the heart monitor went crazy. I turned to look at it. Her heart rate had sped up. I looked over at Cat, she was convulsing, and I had to hold her down to keep her from rolling off the gurney.   
“Guys I could use some help over here,” I shouted, as I tried to hold her arms down.   
They all rushed forward. Both Stark and Steve held her legs down, while Natasha helped me hold her arms/shoulders down. Her entire body shook, then suddenly the convulsions stopped, and the heart monitor flat lined.   
“Stark do you have a defibrillator in here?” I asked.   
Stark nodded his head, and raced off. He came back a second later with a defibrillator. I turned it on, and charged up the paddles, then shocked her. But there was no change.  
“Come on toots,” Stark mumbled behind me.   
I shocked her again, and the monitor showed a faint heartbeat. I sighed, and put the paddles down next to the defibrillator. I felt someone’s arm on my shoulder, and I looked back to see that it was Steve who had set his hand on my shoulder. I sat down next to Cat on the gurney. She was so pale, and it scared me to think that I could lose her.   
“Here,” Tony muttered, holding out a shirt to me.   
I took the shirt and looked it over. The shirt was black, and had Guns & Roses printed on it.  
“Natasha, can you help me get the shirt on her?” I asked.   
Natasha nodded her head and walked over to the gurney. She helped me remove the remains of her old Batman shirt, and then helped me carefully slip the Guns & Roses T-shirt onto her. The shirt was way too big on her and hung so low on her it looked like a dress. I glanced at the blood covered Batman shirt in my hands and sighed. She’d told me that it was a present from her mom for her birthday, and now it was ruined. I shook my head, and dumped the ruined T-shirt into a trash can.   
“I found this while I was looking for the medical kit earlier. I’m sure she’ll need it when she wakes up,” Steve said suddenly, holding out a sling.   
I nodded my head, and quietly slipped the sling over her head, and around her arm…


	10. Shawarma and a new home

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I don’t own the Avengers or any of the Marvel comics characters, though I do own my original characters.

Cat’s P.O.V.  
I could feel a burning pain in my shoulder, which made it hard to breath. I opened my eyes, and looked around. I could see all the avengers sitting around the room, each had fallen asleep in their chairs, and I could hear one of them snoring. I tried to sit up but when I sat up a sharp pain shot through my shoulder. I gasped, and grabbed my shoulder. I looked down to see that my arm was stuck in a sling, and I noticed I was wearing a different shirt.   
“Cat you’re awake,” Dad shouted, waking everyone else up.   
Everyone gathered around me, each of them patting me on my good shoulder. My stomach started to rumble. When was the last time I ate something?  
“Hey does anyone have anything to eat?” I asked.   
“Yeah I’ve got a candy bar,” Dad replied, handing it to me.   
“Thank you,” I said, taking the candy bar.  
“How are you feeling?” Natasha asked.  
“Okay, other than the fact that my shoulder hurts,” I mumbled, taking a bit out of my candy bar. I looked at each of them. Dad, and Stark both had dried blood covering their hands.  
“You two have blood on you,” I pointed out. Dad and Tony looked down at their hands, and both cringed.  
“Oh yeah, we kind of patched you up,” Stark explained.   
I nodded my head, and took another bit out of the candy bar. I thought back over the past day and how things had changed. Not long ago it was just dad and I working in Calcutta helping sick people, and now were sitting in Stark Tower in New York City. It’s strange how things work.   
“Hey wait if all of you are here… then whose watching Loki?” I asked suddenly, remembering about the God who tried to take over the planet.  
“Director Fury picked him up about ten hours ago, after that we all just sat around here watching over you to make sure you didn’t flat line again,” Steve stated.   
“Wait I flat lined?” I asked. Dad nodded his head.  
“Oh crap! Uh how long was I out?” I asked.  
“About elven hours,” Natasha stated.  
“Gesh, and you two didn’t wash off the blood in all that time?” I questioned, finishing my candy bar.  
“Well we were a bit more worried about you than about cleaning up,” Dad stated.   
“Got anymore candy bars?” I asked. Dad reached in his pocket but didn’t find anything.  
“Sorry that was the last one,” He replied.   
“Would you like to get some Shawarma?” Tony asked. Everyone gave him a funny look.  
“Oh yeah I love Shawarma, but first I’d like to take a shower, and change,” I said.   
“Wait you’ve had Shawarma before?” He asked. I nodded my head.  
“Yeah mom loved it, and every time we came through New York we’d stop at this Shawarma place. Actually if I remember correctly that Shawarma place is only a few blocks from your tower,” I replied.   
“Mhm, hey wait if you guys were so close to the tower why didn’t you stop by and say hi?” Tony asked, pretending to be hurt.  
“Because at the time the tower still wasn’t finished, and well we were just passing through,” I stated.   
“Oh come on you guys couldn’t have spared a couple of minutes to stop by and see if I was in?” He asked. I giggled, and shook my head. Tony always knew how to make me laugh.   
“Okay you know what I just wanna take a shower, and get something to eat,” I said, trying to stand up.   
But I was so weak from the blood loss, and the fact that I haven’t eaten anything in about eleven hours, that my legs wouldn’t hold me, and I started to fall but several people grabbed me before I hit the ground.  
“Are you sure you’re all right?” Dad asked. I nodded my head.  
“Yeah I just really need to get something to eat,” I mumbled.  
“Well then let’s get you cleaned up so that we can get something to eat,” Natasha said, putting my good arm around her neck, and helping me out of the room.  
“You guys wash up to, and wait for us in the living room,” She yelled over her shoulder.   
Natasha helped me undress, then helped me into a shower.  
“Think you can handle taking a shower on your own or do you need help?” Natasha asked.   
I wanted to do it on my own but I know there’s no way I can stay standing on my own.  
“I think I’m gonna need some help,” I muttered, my face going red from embarrassment.   
Natasha nodded her head, and helped me shower as quickly as possible. When I was clean she helped me into some new clothes, and took me out to the living room and sat me down on the couch.  
“I’m gonna get cleaned up,” She stated, moving back towards the bathroom we’d just come out of. I nodded my head and laid back on the couch and closed my eyes.   
~(^.^)~  
About an hour later we were all sitting at a table in the ruined Shawarma joint. Surprisingly the lights stilled worked, and the employees were still here working. Natasha had to help me into the car, and then into the restaurant once we got here. We sat there quietly eating our Shawarma, while one of the employees was trying to clean the place up. It was a little harder to eat because I could only use one hand, seeing as my other hand was in a sling, but I made it work. After we were finished eating we were sending Thor and Loki back to Asgard.   
“Hey how’s your arm?” Dad asked, looking over at me.   
“It’s fine, hurts a little bit, but other that it’s fine,” I replied.   
Dad nodded his head and went back to eating his food…  
~(^.^)~  
Two hours later  
…I watched as dad put the Tesseract in a glass ‘vile’, and Thor took one end of it. He looked at Loki; who was cuffed and gaged. Loki took the other end of the ‘vile’, and Thor turned the handle on his end. The two of them where engulfed in a bright light, then they were gone. Then Everyone started to leave. Natasha handed dad a bag, and Steve jumped on a motorcycle. I walked over to the convertible sports car that was parked a few feet away from me. I carefully hoped into the very small back, and Stark and dad got into the front of the car. I waved to everyone as we drove off.  
“So what are we gonna do now?” I asked, leaning forward. Dad glared at me.  
“Put your seat belt on,” He exclaimed.   
“Oh yeah I forgot about that,” I mumbled, grabbing the seat belt with my good arm. I heard Tony laugh, and I glared at him.  
“Well now we go home, and take a break from all this superhero stuff,” Tony stated. I smiled.  
“Sounds good to me, wait where is home?” I asked.   
“Stark tower; though the place does need to be fixed,” Tony replied. I looked at dad.  
“So we’re gonna live in New York?” I asked excitedly.   
I had missed New York over the past couple years. I was born here and had lived here for the first few years of my life. Dad was silent for a couple of seconds.  
“Yeah sure why not,” he finally said, giving me a weak smile.  
“Yes finally I’m gonna be living in New York again,” I shouted, raising my good arm in a small victory dance. Both dad and Tony laughed at this.   
“This is gonna be great,” I stated, sitting back.  
“Yeah it sure is,” Dad mumbled.  
“Oh don’t worry dad, you’ll be fine I’ll look out for ya,” I said, sitting forward again. I could see a small smirk forming on dad’s face.   
“Oh, Tony we gotta find some place for me to go shopping, cause I need some new clothes,” I stated. Tony looked back at me.  
“Don’t you have clothes?” He asked.   
I picked up the bag that Natasha had given dad, which he had flung into the back with me, and started looking through the bag.  
“Yeah; four shirts, three pairs of long pants, and four pairs of shorts, that’s all the stuff Natasha had put in this bag well besides dad’s stuff, and anyway I’ve been wanting to buy new clothes for a while now,” I replied, setting the bag down on the floor.   
I heard Tony grumble something under his breath, that sounded like ‘teenage girls and always wanting to buy clothes’.  
“Oh, come on, I need some clothes. Dad help me with this,” I grumbled, looking at dad.  
“I know I know all right. We’ll find a place that’s not destroyed all right,” Tony mumbled.   
I bent as far forward as my seat belt would let me, and wrapped my good arm around Stark’s neck.  
“Thank you, Uncle Tony,” I said. He glared at me, and dad laughed.  
“Yeah, yeah all right come on I’m trying to drive,” He grumbled.   
I laughed, and sat back in my seat.   
“So toots do you have an idea of what you want your room to look like?” Stark asked, smirking at me.  
“I told you not call me that,” I shouted, “And I want the room to be blue.”   
“Why blue?” Dad asked.  
“Cause it’s my favorite color,” I stated.   
Man, I hope we can find a clothes store that’s not destroyed, or I was screwed. But no matter what living in New York was going to be fun, especially since I’d be living with dad in Stark tower. Oh, and since we’ll be living with Tony I’ll get to see Poppy again! This is gonna be great…


	11. Early wake up calls and old friends

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I don’t own the Avengers or any of the Marvel comics characters, though I do own my original characters.

Two weeks later  
I curled under the soft blankets, trying to block out the sun that was starting to shine through the curtains. The sheets beneath me where soft, and my head sunk into the soft fluffy pillow. I finally managed to block out the sun and I drifted off back to sleep…  
…Suddenly the light from the sun was shining right in my eyes, because the curtains had been swung back.   
“Damn it Jarvis I thought I said not to wake me up,” I grumbled.   
“Sorry Miss Cat but Mr. Stark said to wake you up,” Jarvis replied.   
“Grr,” I mumbled, flinging the blanket over my head.  
“Cat get your lazy but up out of bed,” Tony shouted from somewhere outside of my room. I groaned.  
“Go… away… you annoying old man,” I shouted.   
I heard the door open, and someone ripped my blanket away.  
“Who you calling an old man?” Tony asked, pretending to be hurt.   
I blindly reached for my blanket since I had my face buried in my pillow.  
“But why do you gotta wake me up so early? I’m not a morning person,” I grumbled.   
“Because your dad won’t come out of the lab until you get up and Pepper’s not here right now. Plus, Poppy is out with one of her friend,” Tony replied.   
“Aw is someone lonely,” I teased.  
“Come on, get up,” Tony exclaimed, grabbing my good arm and pulling me up out of the bed.   
I finally opened my eyes and looked around me. Tony had put a rush in getting my room fixed, and had managed to get it finished within two weeks. The walls where sky blue and my blanket was dark blue with tiny stars dotted on it. The carpet was soft and the color of sand. Fairy lights were strung up all around my room, and there was a light blue star studded canopy hanging from the ceiling over my bed. I loved my room. I sighed.  
“All right fine I’m coming,” I grumbled, pulling my good arm out of Tony’s grasp. I quietly trudged behind Tony out into the living room.   
“Jarvis tell Bruce that Cat’s finally up,” Tony shouted, walking over to the bar. He grabbed a drink, then sat down on the couch. A few seconds later dad walked into the room.   
“Morning dad,” I said, grabbing a soda out of the fridge.   
“Morning why are you up so early?” Dad asked.  
“Because someone,” I looked in Tony’s direction, “was out here all by himself and the only way to get his friend out of the lab is if he woke me up.”  
“No that’s not why I woke you up, and that’s not why I wanted him out of the lab; I wanted him out of the lab because he spends way too much time in that lab,” Tony denied.   
Dad chuckled. I finished my soda, and tossed the can in the trash. I sat down on the couch, and grabbed the remote out of Tony’s hand.  
“Hey,” He exclaimed.  
“Well you woke me up, this is your punishment; not being able to choose what we watch,” I replied, changing the channel. Tony just glared at me.   
“So what do you want to do today?” Dad asked, getting a soda out of the fridge.  
“Well I noticed that we’re running low on soda and snacks so I was gonna go to the store,” I replied, setting the remote down.  
“Uh Cat you know I have people that will do that, right?” Tony asked.  
“Yeah I know, but I’m going a bit nuts from being stuck in this tower. I need to get out and do something,” I stated.   
“When were, you planning on going out?” Dad asked. I shrugged my shoulders.  
“Not sure,” I mumbled, staring at the TV.   
“Well I can have a car ready to take you to any store at any time,” Tony stated. I smiled.  
“Thanks,” I mumbled, looking back at the TV…  
~(^.^)~  
Three hours later  
I was sitting in the back of one of Tony’s cars. He’d gotten his driver Happy to drive me to the nearest store, which was about ten blocks away from the tower. I sighed, and looked out the window. I could see construction workers working on fixing the roads and buildings, and it seemed that we were the only car on the road.   
“Here we are Miss Cat,” Happy exclaimed, getting out of the car. He opened the door for me, and I stepped out.  
“Thanks, I’ll be back in a couple of minutes,” I said, walking through the parking lot to the only open store within twelve blocks of Stark tower.   
I walked into the store, grabbed a cart, and started looking for the first thing on my list; which was sodas. I found the sodas by the back of the store. Next I grabbed several bags of chips, and box of cookies. I was looking for the ice cream when I heard someone call my name.  
“Cat, is that you?” A voice asked to my left.   
I looked up to see a guy my age with sandy blond hair, and green eyes staring at me. It took me a moment to figure out who it was, because I hadn’t seen him in several years.   
“Josh!” I exclaimed, wrapping my good arm around his neck.   
I felt his arms wrap around my waist, and he lifted me up off the ground in a bear hug. The two of us had been best friends since we were three, and even after mom and I left New York we kept in touch for a while. But then sometime after my fourteenth birthday he seemed to disappear.   
“I haven’t seen you in years,” He stated, setting me down on the ground.  
“Ah well that’s what happens when you stop replying to a person’s messages,” I countered, playfully punching his shoulder.   
“Oh, yeah sorry about that. A lot of stuff happened and I was just so busy,” He replied, awkwardly rubbing the back of his head.   
“Mhm alright I’ll let it slide just this once, but don’t go silent on me again ya hear!” I said. Josh smiled and nodded his head.   
“So how is your mom?” He asked. That’s right he doesn’t know about mom.  
“She died a little while ago from cancer,” I replied, glancing away from him.  
“Oh I’m sorry, how are you?” He asked.  
“I’m fine, I found my real dad, and we just recently moved here,” I explained.  
“Oh, that’s good,” He said, smiling.   
After mom and I left New York I told him about how my stepdad wasn’t my real dad. The two of us had talked about one day trying to find my dad together one day. But after he disappeared I gave up on the idea that he would help me find my dad.   
“Yeah, you know what we need to have lunch some time,” I exclaimed, turning and grabbing my purse from my cart.   
I pulled out a piece of paper, and a pen, and wrote down my phone number.  
“Here this is my cell phone number, give me a call some time,” I said, handing him the paper.  
“Yeah sure, see you later Cat,” He replied, taking the paper.   
I gave him a quick hug, then went back to looking for the ice cream. Once I’d found the ice cream I walked up to the cash register, and paid for all my things. I pushed the cart out to the car, and Happy helped me put the bags into the trunk of the car, then once everything was in the trunk I got into the back of the car, and Happy got into the front.  
“Any place else you wanna go?” He asked. I shook my head.  
“Na just take me home,” I replied, giving him a smile. He nodded his head, and started the car…

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: Okay so I’m using Burkely Duffield as the face claim for Josh.


	12. Lunch dates and fun times

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I don’t own the Avengers or any of the Marvel comics characters, though I do own my original characters.

Two days later  
I was sitting in the kitchen eating breakfast with dad, Tony, and Poppy when my phone rang. I looked down at my phone, but I didn’t recognize the number. I was about to pick up the phone, when Tony snatched it off the counter.  
“Hey give it back,” I exclaimed, reaching across my seat to try and snatch the phone back.   
But Tony just ducked to the side, and I wound up falling off my seat, and thankfully I landed on my good arm. I could hear Poppy giggling, and I glared at her.  
“This is not funny,” I stated.  
“It kind of is,” She replied, smiling brightly at me.   
“Hello this is Tony Stark, who is this?” Tony asked, answering my phone.  
“Dang it Tony give me my phone,” I shouted, jumping up off the floor.   
Tony jumped out of his seat, and ran into the living room. He stopped on the other side of the couch, and I climbed over the couch, and tackled him to the ground. I snatched the phone out of his hand and put it up to my ear.  
“Hello,” I exclaimed, giving Tony a death glare.   
“Hey Cat it’s me Josh,” Josh replied.  
“Hey Josh how are you?” I asked, standing up. Both dad and Tony gave me a puzzled look, while Poppy just looked intrigued.  
“I’m good, and you?” He asked.  
“Same, so what’s up?” I replied.  
“Well I was wondering if you wanna get something to eat with me today?” He asked. I smiled.  
“Yeah sure, let’s say that shawarma joint a few blocks from Stark tower, at around 12,” I replied, looking down at my watch, which read 11:00 am.  
“All right sure, sounds great,” He stated.   
“Okay see you then,” I said, hanging up the phone. By now both dad and Tony were staring me down, and Poppy was smiling at me.  
“What?” I asked.  
“Someone’s got a date!” Poppy sang.  
“Uh let’s start off with who Josh is,” Dad replied, glancing over at Poppy for a second.  
“Oh, come on he’s an old friend, Tony you gotta remember him, he used to come in here all the time with me after school,” I answered, turning to Tony.  
“Yeah, I think I remember him, okay question two how did he get your cell phone number?” Tony asked.  
“I saw him at the store the other day, and gave him my number,” I said, walking into the kitchen to put my bowel in the sink.  
“Aw someone’s got a date,” Stark shouted, walking into the kitchen repeating what his daughter said a few seconds ago.   
I turned and glared at him, but I could see dad standing behind him, and he looked like he’d just seen a ghost.  
“I don’t know about this Cat,” He stated.   
“Aw come on dad I haven’t seen him since I was a little kid, oh please, oh please, oh please let me go,” I exclaimed, running over to him and wrapping my arm around him in a hug.  
“Please,” I asked, giving him my best puppy dog look. Dad sighed.  
“All right you can go but I want you back by 2,” Dad stated.  
“YES!!!” I shouted, jumping up and down.  
“You want a ride to the shawarma joint?” Tony asked. I nodded my head.  
“I’ll get Happy to give you a ride then,” He replied.   
“I’m gonna go get ready,” I shouted, grabbing Poppy’s arm and pulling her with me to my room.   
I opened my closet doors, and Poppy and I quickly scanned through my clothes. We went through several choices of outfits before Poppy pulled out a black top that had holes on the shoulders, and a pair of black pants.   
“What about this?” She asked, holding it out to me.   
I smiled and nodded my head.  
“Perfect,” I replied.  
I took a quick shower, changed into the clothes Poppy picked out. Poppy helped me dry and curl my hair, then I grabbed my black suede fold down boots. Once my boots where on I grabbed my dream catcher earrings, and my black bracelet, then I quickly put some eye liner on, and a bit of eye shadow. I grabbed my leather jacket out of the closet, and the two of us walked back into the living room, where dad and Tony were watching TV.  
“I don’t remember you buying that shirt,” Dad stated, looking mostly at the holes on my shoulders.   
“That’s because Pepper, Poppy, and I went shopping a few days ago,” I reminded, giving him a smile. I could see Tony holding back a laugh…  
~(^.^)~  
12:00  
I sat back in my seat, and gave Josh a smile.  
“So is shawarma good?” He asked.   
I laughed, and nodded my head. The shawarma joint had really bounced back from the attack. It looked like the place had never been touched by aliens. That might have a little to do with the fact that Tony liked to eat here, and he usually left a really big tip.   
“Hello I’ll be your waiter today, what would you like to drink?” A lady asked, stopping in front of our table.  
“I’ll have a sprite,” I replied.  
“And I’ll have a coke,” Josh said.   
The lady nodded her head, and walked away. A minute later she came back with our drinks, and about five minutes later she came back with our shawarma.  
“Thank you,” I mumbled, taking a bite out of my shawarma. I watched as Josh took a bite out of his shawarma.  
“Wow this is good,” He mumbled, taking another bite. I smiled, and took a bite out of my shawarma.  
“So, a when I called earlier and Stark answered…” Josh exclaimed, looking over at me, but I interrupted him.  
“I know what you’re thinking, and no he’s not my dad, me and my dad are friends with him, and we kind of… live in the tower,” I mumbled, the last part, but somehow, he still heard me.  
“You live in Stark tower?” He asked. I nodded my head, and took a bite out of my shawarma.   
“Wow that’s amazing,” He exclaimed, giving me a big smile.  
“So I uh forgot to ask you but uh how did your arm end up in a sling?” Josh asked. I took another bite out of my shawarma before answering.  
“Ah well… um I… kind of… fell out of a tree,” I lied, looking down at my shawarma.  
“Like how you fell out of that tree and broke your leg when we were kids?” He asked.  
“Hey that was not my fault, I was trying to save a kitten, and my pants got caught on a branch,” I exclaimed, pretending to be hurt.   
Josh raised his arms in defeat, then took a bite out of his shawarma…  
~(^.^)~  
…After we were done our shawarma we went for a walk to the park that was only a few blocks from the shawarma joint.  
“Oh just to let you know, my dad’s being just a bit protective and wants me back by 2,” I exclaimed, looking over at Josh.   
“That’s okay, hey maybe I can come in and meet him,” Josh replied. I looked over at him.  
“I don’t know I’m not sure if I’m ready for you to meet him, and re-meet Tony. Oh god I can’t even being to imagine how Tony would tease me,” I joked, laughing.   
He chuckled, and nudged me with his elbow.  
“But seriously,” He replied.  
“Yeah sure we can hang out back at the tower,” I answered. I looked down at my watch; 1:48.  
“Crap we gotta get back to the car, so Happy can get us back before 2,” I exclaimed, grabbing Josh’s arm and dragging him all the way back to the shawarma joint.   
We dove into the back seat of the car, and Josh shut the door.  
“Hurry up Happy we only have,” I looked back down at my watch, “Crap we only have three minutes before 2,” I shouted.   
Happy laughed, and drove off back to the tower…


	13. Halo and Kisses

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I don’t own the Avengers or any of the Marvel comics characters, though I do own my original characters.

We got back to the tower with 30 seconds to spare. We ran out of the elevator laughing at how Happy had speed through the streets once I told him that dad might go nuts if I wasn’t back at exactly 2. Both dad and Tony where sitting in the living room watching TV when we came in.  
“Hey what’s so funny?” Tony asked.  
“Well we had like three minutes left before two and we were still at the shawarma joint,” Josh started.  
“And we dove into the car shouting at Happy to drive, and once I mentioned that dad might freak out a bit if I wasn’t back by exactly 2 he started driving super-fast like a maniac,” I finished, giggling. Tony smirked, and dad glared at me.  
“What it was a joke,” I defended.   
“So, Josh it’s been a couple years since I last saw you,” Tony stated.  
“Yeah, I know,” He replied, catching his breath. I glanced around the room and noticed Poppy wasn’t here.  
“Hey where’d Poppy go?” I asked.  
“She went to the movies with her friend Jamie,” Tony answered.   
I nodded my head. By now dad had walked over to us, and now he was standing in between me and Josh. I rolled my eyes, and grabbed Josh’s arm.  
“We’re gonna go play some video games,” I exclaimed, pulling Josh over to the couch. I pulled out Tony’s x-box, and popped in Halo.   
“You ready to get your but kicked by a girl?” I asked, pressing the start button.  
“Oh, yeah I’d like to see you try,” He replied.   
I laughed, and the second the game started I hunted Josh’s person down and blew him up with a grenade.  
“Hey,” He exclaimed indigently.   
“Ha told you,” I replied.   
I was about to kill him again, when he reached over and knocked the control out of my hands, then he killed my person.  
“Hey that’s cheating,” I shouted, grabbing my controller.   
“So,’ He replied, sticking his tongue out at me.   
“Oh you’re so dead,” I exclaimed, sticking my tongue out at him and killing his person.  
“What are you like an expert at this game?” He asked. I nodded my head.  
“I used to kick his but back when I was little,” I stated, motioning to Tony who was standing behind us.  
“Hey you never kicked my but at this game,” He defended.  
“Oh yeah remember that Halo face off we had, and how Pepper kept telling you that you didn’t have time to play Halo cause you had a board meeting, but you said you’d rather play Halo,” I said, killing Josh’s person again.  
“Oh yeah, hey that was one time, and you got lucky,” Tony stated.  
“Oh no she didn’t get lucky, you’re just bad at Halo,” Pepper stated, walking into the room.  
“Hey Pep’s you remember Josh, right?” I asked, once again killing Josh.  
“Oh come on at least let me kill you once,” He exclaimed.  
“Yeah I remember Josh. How are you?” Pepper asked.  
“You already killed me once, and the train of letting you win left once you cheated,” I replied.  
“I’m good, and seriously,” He exclaimed, looking over at me, giving me another chance to kill him.  
“Yup,” I nodded my head.  
“She takes her Halo very seriously,” Pepper stated, sitting down next to me…  
~(^.^)~  
Two hours later  
We were just finishing up our game of monopoly when I heard the elevator doors open. I looked up at the elevator to see Steve walking in with a bag.  
“Hey Steve what you doing here?” I asked, jumping up and running over to give him a hug. I’ll admit I do still have a bit of a crush on him, but not as much as before.   
“He’s moving into the tower, now get your but back over here it’s your turn,” Tony replied.   
I rolled my eyes, and walked back over to the board. I rolled the dice, and got two six’s.   
“Sweet,” I exclaimed, moving my piece twelve places.  
“Ah well I hate to end this lovely game of monopoly, but I should be getting home,” Josh stated, looking down at his watch. Steve gave Josh a funny look.  
“Oh a Steve this is my old friend Josh, Josh Steve,” I exclaimed.  
“Hey,” Josh said, shaking Steve’s hand.   
I walked over to the elevator with Josh, and pushed the button, and the door opened.  
“Well I’ll see you later,” Josh stated, kissing me on my cheek then stepped into the elevator.   
I felt my face turn red, and I could feel everyone’s eyes on me.  
“Aw someone’s got a boyfriend,” Tony singed, once the elevator doors closed. I turned and glared at Stark, and dad had this weird look on his face.  
“Here Steve why don’t I show you to your room,” I exclaimed, grabbing Steve’s arm and leading him down the hall to one of the bedrooms.   
“Thanks,” He said, walking into the room. I walked back out into the living room, and sat down on the couch.   
“Uh Cat…”  
“No dad please do not start on the talk about boys,” I groaned, cutting him off.   
I heard Tony burst out laughing from the kitchen followed by what sounded like someone hitting someone, and a loud exclamation of ‘Ow’ from Tony.  
“But…”  
“Come on mom beat you to that by like… three years when I went out with this one boy on a date,” I stated.  
“Whoa wait who was this boy?” Tony asked, walking into the living room. I glared at Tony, and Pepper smacked him on the arm.  
“Ow would you stop that!” He exclaimed, rubbing his arm.  
“He was some boy that was on vacation with his family, never saw him again after they left,” I replied, grabbing the remote and turning the TV on.   
I could see dad sitting next to me, with a worried look on his face.  
“Oh, for the love of all things holly, there’s no need to worry about me I’m a big girl and I know how to kick someone’s but if I need to,” I stated, looking over at dad.   
I gave him a hug, then turned back to the TV to watch storage wars.   
“All right you guys let’s leave her alone so she can bask in the glory of being kissed by a guy, even if it was just on the cheek,” Pepper exclaimed, grabbing dad and Tony by the arms and dragging them out of the room.  
“Thanks Pep,” I shouted.


	14. Old fears and teenage years

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I don’t own the Avengers or any of the Marvel comics characters, though I do own my original characters.

A few days later  
I yawned and sat up in my bed. The sun was shining through the window since my curtains had once again been pulled back. Tony was standing in the doorway smiling at me. I scowled at him, and jumped out of my bed, tossing a pillow at his face in the process. I was wearing a set of batman pajamas, and batman earrings.   
“Hey if you’re gonna wearing super hero PJ’s then they should be Iron man PJ’s,” Tony exclaimed, pretending to be hurt.   
I just stuck my tongue out at him, and walked past him out into the hallway. I walked into the kitchen and grabbed a candy bar and a soda. I sat down on the couch next to Poppy who was watching some show about doctors. About ten minutes later I heard the elevator open. I looked back to see Pepper and Josh stepping out of the elevator. I looked over at the clock on the wall which read 12:35 pm. Crap I was supposed to be ready to go on a walk with Josh by now.   
“Don’t look at me I’m not ready,” I shouted, jumping off the couch and dashing back into my room.   
I could hear all of them laugh at my outburst. I quickly changed into a pair of shorts, and a T-shirt, then slipped on my shoes. I brushed my hair, and put eyeliner on. When I was happy with how I looked I walked out of my room, and into the living room. Josh was standing by the elevator, while Tony and Pepper where sitting on the couch with Poppy in between them, and I could see Steve standing by the bar.  
“Hey guys, I’ll see ya later me and Josh are going for a walk,” I exclaimed, walking over to Josh.   
Tony and Poppy both waved us off, Pepper gave me a smile, and Steve just glanced at us for a second, before going back to whatever it was he was doing. I stepped into the elevator with Josh, and the doors closed…  
~(^.^)~  
I sat back on the bench, and watched as a couple people jogged by. Josh and I had been walking around the park for several minutes now. It was warm out, and there wasn’t a cloud in the sky.  
“It’s so nice out today,” I exclaimed, looking up at the sky.  
“I know right, we really picked the perfect day to go out huh,” He stated, giving me a smile.   
I nodded my head. I could feel Josh’s arm resting around my shoulders, and I rested my head on his shoulder.  
“You know what we have to have a movie night like we used to back before you moved,” Josh exclaimed.  
“Yeah that sounds like a great idea, I’ve really missed those movie nights,” I replied, looking up at him.   
He looked down at me and smiled, and suddenly we were kissing. When we pulled away I could tell that I was blushing. I gave him a sheepish smile, and once again rested my head on his shoulder. That’s when I saw someone I’d hope to never see again, and apparently Josh had seen him to cause’ his muscles tensed.   
“I… is that my stepdad?” I whispered, not looking away from the man standing a few feet away from us.   
He was looking away from us, and I hope that he hadn’t seen us yet.  
“I think it is, uh why don’t we leave?” Josh replied. I nodded my head. What the hell is he doing here? Why of all days would he have to be here in this park?!  
“Yeah, I was thinking the same thing,” I stated.   
Just as we stood up my stepdad turned and looked right at us. My eyes locked with his for a second.   
“Crap,” I muttered.   
My stepdad looked over at Josh, then started walking towards us. Josh grabbed my good arm, and started pulling me through the park. I looked back to see that he was following us.  
“Hurry up he’s catching up to us,” I exclaimed, running a little faster.   
We were getting closer to the tower, which also meant that we were now on one of the streets that were still being repaired, so we were the only people in sight. I picked up the pace as we got closer to the tower. Suddenly I tripped over a metal pole, and fell face first to the ground.   
“Ow,” I mumbled, pushing myself up off the ground. But that had given my stepdad enough time to catch up to us.  
“Well I didn’t expect to see you here Josh,” He stated, stopping a few feet away from us. Josh scowled at him, and stepped in front of me.  
“What do you want?” Josh asked.  
“Well I was looking for Cat, but like I said I didn’t expect to see you here to,” He replied, taking a step forward.   
“Don’t take another step,” Josh shouted. My stepdad held his hands up.  
“Oh please Josh you think I’d hurt the two of you. Why would I do that you’re both very valuable to me,” He stated. Okay now I’m confused.  
“Ah what?” I asked.   
My stepdad smiled, and took another step towards us. Suddenly a ball of fire was heading straight at him, and he ducked to the side. I could see smoke rolling off Josh’s raised hand, and his other hand was engulfed in fire. He grabbed my good arm with the hand that wasn’t on fire, and once again started pulling me down the street. We raced into the tower, and straight into the elevator. Once the doors where closed Josh took a deep breath, and the fire around his hand went out. A second later the elevator doors opened, and I could see Tony, Poppy, dad, Pepper, and Steve sitting on the couch. We stepped out of the elevator, and into the room, and everyone looked back at us. I must have looked completely freaked out cause dad stood up and walked over to us.  
“Cat what’s wrong?” He asked, stepping between me and Josh.  
“Uh we were at the park, and…” I started, but I couldn’t seem to speak.  
“We saw her stepdad,” Josh finished for us. Which caused Tony, Pepper, and Steve to stand up and walk over to us, while Poppy just sat on the couch looking at us worriedly.   
“What happened after that?” Steve asked,  
“We started running back here, but he followed us, and well I kind of tripped when we were almost back here,” I mumbled.  
“Only you could trip while running away from someone,” Tony muttered earning him a glare from everyone in the room.  
“Then what happened?” Dad asked. I looked over at Josh, and he nodded his head.  
“Well then Josh threw a fire ball at him,” I exclaimed. Everyone’s eyes went wide.  
“I’m sorry it sounded like you said he threw a fire ball,” Tony said.   
I nodded my head, and Josh raised his hand, and once again his hand was engulfed in flames. Everyone except for me took a step back.  
“Whoa how’d you do that?” Stark asked.  
“I’ve had this ability for several years now. Ugh well see sometime after Cat and her mom left my parents died, and her stepdad took me in,” He started, the flame around his hand going out.  
“Aw you never said they died,” I interrupted, setting my hand on his shoulder. He gave me a small smile.  
“Well at first everything was fine, until one day he locked me up in his lab, and gave me some sort of serum. I was trapped there for a couple months before I managed to escape, but ever since then I’ve been able to control fire,” He finished.  
“Man Cat your stepdad really is something,” Dad muttered. I nodded my head.  
“No kidding,” I mumbled, walking over to the couch.   
I sat down on the couch and I watched as everyone sat down around me. Josh was on one side of me, while dad was on the other side.   
“I’m just glad you weren’t there when he made that serum,” Josh exclaimed, looking over at me.   
“Uh huh,” I mumbled, looking down at the floor.   
“Where you?” He asked. I nodded my head.  
“That’s why me and mom left. He’d given me the serum, and after that I had an ability of my own,” I replied.   
“She can heighten her sense’s,” Tony filled in, when Josh gave us a funny look.  
“And well I kind of lied a bit when I told about why my arm was in a sling,” I mumbled.  
“Did your stepdad do that?” Josh asked.  
“No the guy who caused the invasion a little while ago, he kind of stabbed me in the shoulder,” I explained.  
“So you were here during the battle?” Josh asked. I nodded my head.  
“Well of course she was, both her and her dad are avengers,” Tony exclaimed, getting up and walking over to the bar. Josh’s eyes went wide, and he looked over at my dad.  
“Uh, are all of you part of the avengers?” He asked, looking over at Steve and Pepper.  
“I’m not but Steve is,” Pepper replied. Tony walked back over with a drink in his hand, and sat down on the arm rest of the couch.  
“So uh what can you two do?” Josh asked, looking between dad and Steve. Dad frowned, and Steve just sat there awkwardly.   
“Well Steve is Captain America, and dad’s the hulk,” I stated giving him a smile. Josh looked at dad again, and I heard Tony chuckle.   
“Yup that’s right so you better be nice to his daughter,” Tony exclaimed, earning him a slap on the arm from Pepper.  
“Okay well this is defiantly a lot to take in,” Josh mumbled.  
“Yeah I understand,” I said, giving him a smile.  
“Now one thing that worries me about this whole thing is that my stepdad said that he came here looking for me, but I have no idea how he knew I was here,” I exclaimed, looking over at dad, Tony, Steve, and Pepper.  
“Wait he knew you were here in New York?” Steve asked.  
“Well he said that he was looking for Cat, and that he was surprised that I was with her, so we kind of assumed that he knew she was here in New York,” Josh explained.  
“Maybe we should call director Fury,” Steve suggested.  
“I’m with Steve on this he might be able to find out how Cat’s stepdad found her,” Pepper stated.  
“All right, then Steve give Fury a call, and until then why don’t we get you settled in,” Tony stated, looking at Josh.   
“I’m sorry what?” Josh asked, looking over at me. I shrugged my shoulder.  
“Well obviously, Cat’s stepdad is now after the both of you, and well the only safe place for the two of you to be is here in the tower,” Tony explained.  
“Tony’s right, this is the safest place to be,” Steve said.   
Josh sighed, and nodded his head, and I could see dad glaring at Tony. I chuckled.  
“Don’t worry dad I’ll be fine,” I stated, getting up and giving him a hug.  
“So, you’re letting Cat’s boyfriend stay in the tower, but you won’t let me have any of my guy friends over?” Poppy asked, crossing her arms. Tony paled at this and shook his head.  
“You’re not allowed to know any boys until you’re twenty-five. Besides he’s staying here because he needs protection from a psychopath,” Tony stated, taking a sip of his drink.   
I giggled at the horrified look on Tony’s face.   
“Don’t listen to him Poppy. You’re not allowed to know any boys until you’re sixteen,” I countered, smiling at her.   
Poppy smiled back at me and we both laughed at the look Tony shot me.   
“No, no. twenty-five and no sooner,” Tony ordered.   
I shook my head at his antics. Oh, he is so not going to like having a teenage daughter that’s basically just like him in almost every way…


	15. Movie dates and angry dads

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I don’t own the Avengers or any of the Marvel comics characters, though I do own my original characters.

I sighed and sat back on the couch, and watched as Steve talked with Director Fury over the phone. It’s been over an hour since me and Josh returned from our… date? I’m not sure if I could call it a date. I looked over at Josh who was sitting next to me.  
“Uh Josh I got a question,” I whispered, leaning closer to him.  
“Yeah sure ask me anything,” He replied.  
“Was that a date we were on earlier?” I asked, blushing slightly. Josh’s face turned red, and he didn’t respond at first.  
“Uh… yeah… I guess,” He stuttered.   
I smiled while Poppy, who was sitting next to me, giggled. I turned to look back at Steve, Tony, dad, and Pepper. Tony was staring at me and Josh with this huge smirk on his face. Oh there’s no way he could have heard that, right?   
“All right thanks,” Steve said, hanging up the phone.  
“Okay well director Fury has no idea how Cat’s stepdad found her, but he is sending Natasha and Clint over to help, they’ll be here in an hour or two,” Steve explained.  
“Sweet now there’ll be four girls in the tower,” I exclaimed, smiling. I could hear Josh chuckle behind me.  
“So why don’t we try and come up with some idea as to how your stepdad might have found out that you’re here in New York,” Dad stated, walking over to the couch. I thought for a second.  
“What if he has some sort of spy working undercover here at the tower,” Josh suggested. Tony’s eyes went wide, and then he scowled.  
“I’ll do another background check on everyone who’s working here,” He grumbled, walking away…  
~(^.^)~  
Two hours later  
I was sitting in the kitchen eating a bowl of cereal when the elevator doors opened, and Natasha and Clint walked out.  
“Hey guys,” I shouted, waving to them. I hadn’t seen them since the day we sent Thor and Loki back to Asgard. I set my empty bowl in the sink, and walked over to them.  
“Hey Cat how’s your arm?” Natasha asked.   
“It’s doing better, though as you can see it still needs to be in a sling,” I replied.  
“Hey Jarvis could you let everyone know they’re here,” I exclaimed, looking up at the ceiling.  
“I’ll let them know,” Jarvis stated.  
“Thanks,” I said, walking over to the couch. A few seconds later everyone was walking into the living room.  
“Hey guys long time no see,” Tony exclaimed, stopping in front of the bar and grabbing a drink. Josh walked over to the couch and sat down next to me.  
“How’s it going with the background checks?” I asked, looking back at him.  
“I’m working on it. I have Jarvis pulling up every file on anyone who’s ever worked here, and I’m triple checking to make sure all the information that they’ve given is true,” Tony stated.   
I nodded my head. Natasha and Clint where both looking over at Josh with questioning looks.  
“Oh Nat, Clint this is my friend Josh,” I said, pulling Josh over to them.  
“Hi,” Josh said, holding his hand out. Natasha and Clint both shook his hand.  
“So where will we be staying while we’re here?” Nat asked.  
“I’ll show you guys to your rooms,” Pepper replied, walking away with Nat and Clint right behind her.   
“Okay so what are we gonna do now?” I mumbled.  
“We could watch a movie,” Josh suggested. I smiled.  
“Yeah sure what movie do you wanna watch?” I asked.  
“How about Batman begins,” He replied.  
“Sounds good, just give me a minute to find it,” I stated, running back to my room.   
I walked over to the book shelf, which had books on two of the shelves, and the last shelf had movies on it. I looked through the movies until I found Batman begins. I grabbed the movie, and walked back out into the living room. By now everyone had gone back to whatever it was that they were doing.  
“I made popcorn,” Josh exclaimed, holding up a bowl of popcorn.  
“And I’ve got the movie,” I said, holding up the movie. I put the DVD in, and we sat down on the couch…  
~(^.^)~  
When the movie was over Josh and I decided to play Halo again, and once again I was kicking his but.   
“Oh, come on how is that fair,” Josh exclaimed, after I blew his person up with a rocket launcher.   
“Because it is,” I stated, firing at his person killing him again.  
“All right that’s it no more mister nice guy,” Josh muttered, yanking my control out of my hands.  
“Hey give that back, that’s cheating,” I exclaimed, reaching for the controller.   
Josh leaned away, and held the controller out of my reach. I jumped off the couch and tried to grab the controller, but Josh just raised the controller higher in the air.   
“Give it back,” I shouted, sitting on top of him.   
“Hey get off,” He exclaimed.  
“Not till you give me my controller back,” I stated. He smiled, and flipped me over onto the couch.  
“That’s so not fair,” I shouted. I sat up and glared at him. I held my good arm out to him.  
“Please can I have my controller back?” I asked, giving him my best puppy dog look.   
“All right yes since you said please I’ll give it back,” He replied, handing me the controller.  
“That’s all it took a simple please,” I exclaimed, yanking the controller from him.   
He nodded his head and gave me a smile. I punched his shoulder.  
“Ow hey,” He grumbled.   
I smiled, and rested my head on his shoulder. I looked up at him, and he gave me a smile. Then he leaned down and kissed me.   
“Hey you two having fun,” Tony exclaimed. I looked around but didn’t see him.  
“Tony, where are you?” I shouted.  
“Were In the lab watching you two on your little date,” Poppy replied. I scowled.  
“Tony I swear I’m going to kill you, and you to Poppy,” I shouted, jumping up off the couch.   
I ran down to the lab, and I could see Tony and Poppy both sitting in front of two computers. One screen had an image of the living room on it, and I could see Josh sitting on the couch, the other screen had files on the people who worked here at the tower. I walked over to him, and punched him on the arm.  
“Ow, what the heck!” He exclaimed.  
“That’s for spying on me,” I stated.  
“Just be lucky your dad didn’t walk in and see you two kissing,” Tony grumbled.  
“You where what?” Dad shouted. Damn! I turned to see dad standing behind us, and he looked mad.  
“Way to go Tony,” I exclaimed, punching him in the arm again.   
“Would you stop doing that?!” Tony shouted.   
Dad looked over at the screen, and saw Josh sitting in the living room. He scowled at the image, then turned and started walking out of the lab.  
“Uh where are you going?” I asked.  
“To have a talk with Josh,” Dad replied.   
Crap! I raced past him, and ran back to the living room. I ran into the room and found Josh watching TV.  
“Josh quick run, my dad knows we kissed, and he’s on his way here to talk to you,” I shouted, vaulting over the couch.  
“What?!” Josh exclaimed, jumping up off the couch.   
He turned to run to his room, but stopped. I turned to see dad standing there blocking his path, with his arms crossed.  
“Okay dad stay calm it was just a kiss,” I stated, stepping in front of Josh.  
“Yeah it was just a kiss, nothing else,” Josh added.   
Dad glared at Josh. At that moment there was a loud clap of thunder, and a bright blue beam shot down onto the balcony. When the beam was gone I could see Thor standing on the balcony.   
“Friends it’s nice to see you,” Thor exclaimed, walking into the room.   
I rushed over to him, pulling Josh with me and hide behind Thor.  
“Uh Thor we need you to be our human shield,” I stated, peeking over Thor’s shoulder to look at dad.  
“Why what is wrong?” He asked, looking over at dad.  
“Dad’s mad, cause’ me and Josh kissed, and I think he wants to hurt Josh,” I replied. Dad scowled.  
“Who is this Josh?” Thor asked, turning to face me. I pointed at Josh.  
“Josh Thor, Thor Josh,” I introduced. Thor smiled at Josh, and shook his hand.  
“Whoa wait you two kissed?” Natasha asked, walking into the room. I nodded my head, and I could feel my face turn red.  
“So are you two dating?” She asked. I looked back at Josh, and I could see his face was super red.  
“Uh I’m not sure,” I mumbled.   
I could hear a growl come from dad. I looked back at him, and if looks could kill then Josh would be dead.   
“Ah dad calm down,” I exclaimed, walking over to him. I wrapped my arm around him in a hug.   
“Hey Thor buddy what you doing back here?” Tony asked, walking into the room.  
“I am here because I wish to spend more time with my friends,” He stated.   
“Well I’ll show you to your room so that Cat, Bruce, and Josh can have a talk,” Tony said, walking out of the room with Natasha right behind him. Thor started to follow Tony, but I grabbed his arm.  
“No, no, no, no, I need you here to protect Josh,” I exclaimed, trying to drag him back over to where Josh was standing.   
But Thor just kept walking, and he was dragging me along with him.  
“Ah fine I don’t need you to protect him anyway,” I shouted, letting go of his arm.   
He laughed, and walked off following Tony and Natasha. I walked back over to where Josh was standing.   
“Okay now dad just stay calm, I don’t see why you’re so upset I mean Josh is a nice guy,” I said, giving him a smile.   
Dad glared at Josh, then looked over at me. He sighed, and put his head in his hand.  
“Just don’t hurt her,” Dad exclaimed, glaring at Josh then walking away.   
“Holly crap I thought I was gonna have a heart attack,” Josh mumbled.   
I laughed, and turned to look at him. He chuckled, and I playfully punched his arm.  
“So are we dating?” I asked.  
“I… guess if… if you want to,” He replied, rubbing the back of his head.   
I wrapped my arm around his neck, and gave him a kiss.


	16. Lab lockouts and angry scientists

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I don’t own the Avengers or any of the Marvel comics characters, though I do own my original characters.

I sat up in my bed, and looked around me. It was still dark out, and I sighed. Ugh I need sleep! I plopped back down on my bed, and tried to fall back asleep but it was no use. I got up and slipped on my batman slippers, and walked out into the hallway. Hm I wonder if dad’s still in the lab, he has a tendency to work all night and not get any sleep. I headed to the elevator, and pressed the button for the floor that the labs on. When I got there, I could see dad sitting at a seat staring down at one of the computers, and Tony was asleep at another computer. I walked into the lab, and stopped next to dad.  
“Dad you should get some sleep it’s,” I looked at the clock on the wall, “it’s 1:30 am.”   
He looked up at me and smiled.  
“Shouldn’t you be sleeping?” He asked.  
“I was but I woke up and couldn’t get back to sleep, now have you gotten any sleep at all?” I replied. Dad chuckled and pulled his glasses off his face.  
“Ah no, but I should be the one telling you to get some sleep,” He answered, smiling at me.  
“Well when I start staying up all night in the lab is when you can tell me to get some sleep, now go on and get some sleep,” I said, giving him a smile.   
I could hear Tony snoring lightly from his computer.  
“Uh maybe…”  
“I’ll get him, you just go get some sleep,” I said, cutting him off, and shoving him out the door of the lab.   
Dad chuckled again, and stepped into the elevator. I walked over to Tony, and tapped him on the shoulder.  
“Tony get up it’s 1 in the morning,” I stated. He sat up and looked at me.  
“Oh I’m just rechecking the employee’s backgrounds. I didn’t know how many people worked here until this moment,” He grumbled.  
“Ah yeah well, Jarvis can do that while you go to your room and get some sleep, I’ve already sent dad to bed now I’m sending you to bed,” I replied. Tony gave me a funny look.  
“Shouldn’t it be your dad sending you to bed?” He asked. I rolled my eyes, and sighed.  
“Well like I told him, the moment I start spending all night in the lab is when he can order me to bed, now get your but up to your room and get some sleep,” I stated, using my good arm to point at the elevator.   
Tony got up and grumbled something as he walked to the elevator. I smiled, and walked out of the lab. The doors to the lab shut when I left.  
“Jarvis,” I exclaimed, once the elevator doors had closed and I couldn’t see Tony anymore.  
“Yes, miss Cat,” Jarvis replied.  
“Don’t let dad or Tony back into the lab until at least noon, okay no matter what they say don’t let them in,” I said.  
“All right miss Cat,” Jarvis said.   
“Thank you,” I said, pressing the button for the elevator.   
When the doors opened, I stepped in and pressed the button for the floor that my room was on…  
~(^.^)~  
“CAT!!!” Tony screamed, ripping my blanket off me. I groaned, and curled up into a ball.  
“What do you want,” I mumbled.  
“Why did you tell Jarvis to lock me out of the lab? It’s my lab! He’s my AI!” Tony shouted. I grinned into my pillow.  
“Cause’ you need some time out of the lab, and I told Jarvis to let you guys in at noon,” I replied.  
“No I need to be in the lab right now, and besides I’m trying to find out who told your stepdad that you were here in New York,” Tony shouted.  
“Ugh what time is it?” I asked.  
“7 am,” He replied. 7 am!!! Oh I’m gonna kill him.  
“Tony, you went to sleep after one am you need more than six hours of sleep. Now go back to bed now or I will kick your arse at Halo in front of everyone,” I exclaimed, snatching my blanket back from him. He glared at me.  
“Jarvis, you better let me back into the lab,” Tony shouted at the ceiling.  
“I’m sorry sir but miss Cat is right, you do need sleep, I’m currently looking through each employee’s background,” Jarvis replied. By now Tony’s face was super red, and he looked like he was about to explode.  
“How dare you turn my AI against me,” Tony exclaimed, glaring at me. I just smirked at him.  
“Well you need sleep and Jarvis knows that now go away and get some sleep,” I stated, covering my head with the blanket. Tony grumbled something that I didn’t hear and walked out of the room.  
~(^.^)~  
A couple hours later  
I took another bite of cereal, and looked around me. Nat, Clint, Thor, Dad, and Josh where sitting at the bar all eating their own bowl of cereal. Tony walked in, grabbed a drink and glared at me.  
“Oh, come on Tony you know I’m right you need to get some sleep and not stay up all night,” I exclaimed. Everyone gave me a quizzical look.  
“So,” He grumbled.  
“I do not understand, why is friend Stark mad at you?” Thor asked.  
“Because I had Jarvis lock him and dad out of the lab until noon,” I replied.   
Nat, and Clint where both silently laughing in their seats, Thor and Josh both smirked, and dad just looked like he didn’t care.  
“It’s my lab and my AI, you are not allowed to order my AI around or lock me out of my lab,” Tony exclaimed, getting another drink.  
“Tony you know it’s not good for you to stay up all night in that lab, thank you Cat,” Pepper said, walking into the room. I smiled, and finished my cereal.   
“Yeah dad, even I know when to leave the lab and get some sleep,” Poppy added.   
“Well I’m gonna go to the gym and work out for a little bit,” I exclaimed, putting my empty bowl in the sink.   
I walked down the hall and to the stairs. If I’m gonna work out, then I might as well use the stairs. I was just outside the door that leads to the gym when something slammed into my head. I fell forward onto the ground, and everything went black…


	17. Knights in shining armor and concussions

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I don’t own the Avengers or any of the Marvel comics characters, though I do own my original characters.

Bruce’s P.V.O. a few minutes earlier  
“Well I’m gonna go to the gym and work out for a little bit,” Cat exclaimed, getting up and putting her empty bowl in the sink. I turned back to my bowl which was half empty.  
“You know what I think I need to get a work out to,” Josh mumbled, putting his bowl in the sink, and following after Cat. I frowned.  
“Aw come on their just gonna be working out, stop being so over protective, Cat can handle herself,” Natasha exclaimed, patting my shoulder. I sighed.  
“I can’t help it,” I muttered, pushing my bowl away. Suddenly I wasn’t that hungry.   
“Sir Josh has asked me to inform you that someone attacked Cat outside the gym,” Jarvis announced.   
I shot out of my seat, and ran towards the steps. I raced up the stairs, and to the gym. I could see Cat lying on the floor in front of the doors, and Josh was wrestling with someone…  
~(^.^)~  
Josh’s P.O.V. a few minutes ago  
“You know what I think I need to get a work out to,” I mumbled, putting my empty bowl in the sink.   
I followed Cat up the stairs, and to the gym. When I got to the gym I saw a man walking up behind Cat just as she was about to walk into the gym. Suddenly the man hit cat with a pole, and she fell to the floor unconscious. The man dropped the pole, and bent down to pick Cat up, but I tackled him before he could grab her.  
“Jarvis let everyone know that Cat’s been attacked,” I shouted, punching the man in the face.   
He punched me in the stomach, and I doubled over in pain. The man went to punch me again but I dodged and kicked him in the shin. I could hear someone running down the hallway heading in our direction. I looked up to see Bruce, Natasha, Clint, Thor, and Stark running towards us, then suddenly Bruce stopped after he noticed Cat lying on the floor.   
Suddenly he doubled over and it looked like he was turning green. Oh crap! I watched as he changed, and within a few seconds the hulk was standing in front of me. He looked down at Cat, then up at the man I’d been fighting. The man was lying on the floor staring up at the hulk with wide eyes.  
“You hurt Cat,” Hulk roared, pointing at the man.   
The man started to crawl backwards to get away from the hulk. Hulk reached out and tried to grab the man, but Thor stopped him.  
“Hulk stop, if you hurt him then he won’t be able to tell us where Cat’s stepdad is,” Natasha shouted. Hulk glared at Thor, and tried to push him out of his way.  
“Hulk listen we need him to find her stepdad, cause’ if we don’t find him then he just gonna keep sending people here to hurt Cat,” Stark exclaimed.   
Hulk growled, and lowered his hand. I looked back to see that both Clint and Natasha had grabbed the guy, and where now leading him down the hallway. I turned back to face the Hulk, but instead I saw Bruce standing there holding up what was left of his pants.  
“I’m gonna go get changed, get her back to her room,” He exclaimed, turning to walk away.   
Stark picked Cat up, and I followed him back to her room. He set her down on her bed, and a couple seconds later Bruce walked in. He walked over to Cat’s bed, and sat down next to her, and examined her head.  
“She’s probably got a concussion,” He muttered.  
“But is she okay?” I asked. Bruce nodded his head.  
“She’ll be fine, she’s probably gonna have one heck of a head ache when she wakes up,” He replied. I sighed.  
“Thanks for helping her,” Bruce exclaimed, looking over at me.   
“You don’t have to thank me,” I mumbled.   
He nodded his head, and I walked out of the room, and walked to the living room…   
~(^.^)~  
Cat’s P.O.V.  
I sat up, and looked around me, and found that I was lying on my bed. My head hurt like crazy, and the room seemed to spin. Great I’ve got one arm in a sling and now I probably have a concussion!!! What in the hell happened? Suddenly the door opened, and dad walked in.  
“Cat how are you feeling?” He asked, sitting next to me on the bed.  
“Fine, my head hurts,” I replied.  
“Yeah you have a concussion,” He said. I knew it!   
“What happened?” I asked.  
“Well after you left for the gym Josh decided to go work out too, and when he got up to the gym he saw someone hit you in the head with a pole, then he tackled the guy, and Jarvis informed us of what happened,” Dad explained.   
“So you got the guy?” I asked. Dad nodded his head.  
“Yeah, Tony has him locked in a room a few floors down. Natasha’s interrogating him right now. Tony found his file though, he’s been working here at the tower for almost six months, most of the information he gave for his file isn’t true so we don’t know much about him,” Dad answered.  
“Okay well I need to get something to eat,” I exclaimed, trying to get up.  
“Ah no you stay right there, I’ll be back in a minute with some food,” Dad said, pushing me back onto the bed. I sighed, and sat back on the bed. Dad walked out of the room, and a couple seconds later Josh walked in. I smiled at him.  
“There’s my knight in shining armor,” I exclaimed, holding my good arm out to him for a hug. He smiled.  
“How are you?” He asked, sitting next to me and giving me a hug.  
“I’m good, though my head hurts,” I replied.   
He smiled, and gave me a kiss. A few minutes later dad came back with a bowl of soup for me. I silently ate the soup and after I was done I decided to try and get more sleep.


	18. Earthquakes and escapes

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I don’t own the Avengers or any of the Marvel comics characters, though I do own my original characters.

A few hours later, living room  
“Well he’s not talking,” Natasha exclaimed, walking into the living room. I sighed.  
“Well maybe we should get the hulk to interrogate him,” Tony suggested, which earned him a glare from everyone in the room.   
“Well what do we do?” I asked, looking over at everyone.   
“Well I’m running a background check on him right now,” Tony replied.  
“I’ll call Director Fury, and see if he can find out anything about this guy,” Nat said.  
“Why is calling Fury everyone’s answer for everything?” Tony asked.   
I turned back to the TV. I hope they can find my step-dad soon, cause’ this is just getting annoying.  
“Are you okay Cat?” Poppy asked. I glanced over at her. She looked scared. I smiled and wrapped my arm around her.  
“Yeah, I’m fine,” I replied. Poppy nodded her head, and hugged me back.  
~(^.^)~  
I sat up in bed, and looked around me. I could feel the ground shaking beneath me, and I could see the lamp on the bed side table shaking. Crap earth quake! I jumped up out of the bed, and ducked underneath the desk in the corner of the room. Several of my books fell off the shelf, and I heard something glass outside my room shatter. The ground was shaking like crazy. Suddenly the book shelf tipped over, and fell over top of the desk I was under.   
I screamed, and scooted even farther back under the desk until my back was against the wall. Books and DVD’s where scattered all over the floor, and the book shelf was blocking my way out from under the desk. Suddenly the ground stopped shaking, and I crawled away from the wall, and tried to shove the book shelf to the side. I enhanced my strength and tried to move it, but it still didn’t move.  
“Cat are you okay?” Dad asked, running into the room.  
“I’m fine,” I replied. I could see dad looking around the room.   
“Uh Cat, where are you?” Dad asked.  
“Under the desk,” I stated, peeking my head through the now empty shelf of my book shelf.   
“And I seem to be stuck,” I muttered. Dad smiled.  
“That’s because the bookshelf is wedged between the desk and your bed,” Dad sated.  
“Oh,” I murmured.  
“Uh give me a second I’ll go get Stark and Clint to help lift the book shelf up,” Dad said.  
“Okay I’ll just… wait here… as if I had the choice,” I mumbled.   
“Jarvis is everyone okay?” I asked, twisting my head through one of the shelf’s to look up at the ceiling.  
“Everyone is fine,” Jarvis replied.   
Well I can relax now knowing that everyone’s okay. A couple seconds later dad, Tony, and Clint walked into the room.  
“Aw does someone need a little help,” Tony asked, smirking at me. I gave him my best death glare.  
“I swear Tony if you make any jokes about this I will tell everyone about what happened that one day when I was 6, and you played hide and seek with me to get out of going to a board meeting,” I stated. The smirk on T’s face disappeared, and dad and Clint both gave me and Tony funny looks.   
“You wouldn’t,” He shouted.  
“What, what happened?” Clint asked.  
“Could you guys please just get me out from underneath this desk?” I asked, giving them my best puppy dog look.   
They nodded their heads, and walked over to the desk, and lifted the book shelf up off the desk. I crawled out from under the desk, and looked around my room. My room looked fine except for the books and DVD’s all over the floor. I sighed.  
“Well I better get to work putting all these books and DVD’s back on the shelf,” I muttered.   
“Seriously what happened?” Clint asked.  
“Don’t you dare tell him,” Tony shouted, turning to walk out of the room. I smiled, and dad patted me on my shoulder.  
“We’ll leave you to fix your room,” He stated, walking out of the room.   
Clint muttered something, and followed dad out of the room. About ten minutes later I had finished putting everything back on the shelf, and I was walking into the living room. Dad, Clint, Tony, Thor, and Josh where sitting at the bar.   
“So was anything broken during the earth quake?” I asked.   
“Just the vase of flowers in the hall near your room, and some of the camera’s in the building are out,” Tony replied. I nodded my head, and grabbed a soda out of the fridge.   
“He’s gone,” Nat exclaimed, running into the room. I looked over at her.  
“Okay you’re going to have to be a little more specific than that,” Tony said. Nat rolled her eyes.  
“The guy that attack Cat, he’s gone. I went down to check on him and the door was open and he was gone,” Nat explained. Aw come on, seriously!!!   
“Damn it, and let me guess the floors that the cameras are out, is the floor that you guys had him on,” Josh muttered.  
“Yeah that’s why I went down to check on him,” Nat stated. Tony walked out of the room, and everyone, including me, followed him. He walked into the lab and sat down at a computer.  
“Jarvis pull up all footage of the stairs and elevators during the earthquake,” Tony exclaimed.  
“And pull up the footage from the lobby, and from any exit in the building,” Dad added.   
We watched several different videos before we found one of the guy leaving the building.  
“Is there any way to know which way he went after he left the building?” I asked.   
Tony pulled up a video from a camera on the outside of the building. I could see the guy walking out of the building, and he turned left and headed down the street.   
“That’s about all I can find out,” Tony muttered.   
“Uh this is a night mare,” I mumbled, sitting down in a chair.  
“Do not worry Cat we will find this man and your step-dad,” Thor stated.   
“Yeah, I know,” I muttered.   
I felt someone rest their hand on my shoulder, and I looked up to see that it was Josh. I gave him a smile, and he smiled back at me.   
“I’ll call Director Fury and let him know,” Clint said, walking out of the room.  
“Seriously Fury is not the answer to everything!” Tony exclaimed, getting up and walking out of the room.   
I smiled, and followed him out of the lab and back up to the living room/kitchen…


	19. Embarrassing stories and photos

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I don’t own the Avengers or any of the Marvel comics characters, though I do own my original characters.

I was once again playing Halo with Josh, and he was once again trying to cheat by taking my controller. But I wasn’t gonna let him cheat this time, I was sitting as far away from him as possible.   
“Oh, come on would you let me win at least once,” He exclaimed.  
“Not a chance,” I replied, smirking. Josh stood up and walked over to me, and tried to grab the controller.  
“Nope not this time,” I shouted, tackling him to the ground.  
“Ah hey,” He grumbled. I laughed, and stuck my tongue out at him.   
“Aw isn’t that just adorable,” Tony exclaimed. I looked up to see everyone standing around us.  
“What he was trying to steal my controller,” I defended.  
“She’s too competitive at Halo,” Josh said. I once again stuck my tongue out at him.  
“Cat and Josh sitting in a tree k.i.s.s.i.n.g…”  
“Hey you guys want to hear a funny story about something that happened to Tony when I was 6,” I exclaimed, standing up. The smile disappeared from his face.  
“No,” Tony shouted.  
“Yes, tell us,” Clint shouted.  
“No, I swear if you tell them…”   
“Okay well when I was 6 Tony agreed to play hide and seek with me to get out of going to a board meeting,” I started. Tony lunged at me, but Clint and Thor both held him back.  
“Please continue,” Clint said.  
“Gladly,” I said…  
~(^.^)~  
“Please oh please play hide and seek with me,” I said, giving him my best puppy dog look.   
Before Tony could reply his phone rang. He picked it up and listened to the person on the other end.  
“Ah that would be a no… no you can’t make me,” Tony said, hanging up the phone. He turned to me and smiled.  
“Sure, I’ll play hide and seek with you, but just this one time,” He said.  
“YAY!!! Okay I’ll hide you count,” I exclaimed, running out of the room.  
“What should I count to?” He shouted.  
“100,” I replied, running up the stairs and into the giant kitchen.  
“Cat what are you doing?” Mom asked, turning from the stove.   
She was a chef, and Stark had hired her cause’ she made the best food in the entire world, and he also hired her to be a baby sitter for Poppy when he had to go out of town for work.   
“Me and Mr. Stark are playing hide and seek, and I’m trying to find a place to hide,” I replied. I could see Pepper standing in the doorway of the kitchen.  
“Aw Cat there’s something I gotta tell you. The reason Tony’s playing hide and seek is cause’ he doesn’t want to go to a board meeting,” Pepper explained, patting me on the shoulder. I frowned.  
“So, he’s using me?” I asked. Pepper nodded. Oh, heck no, no one uses me!  
“Oh, I’m so going to get him for this,” I grumbled. Pepper smirked.   
“Well it’s been annoying me to since I’m the one that has to fill in for him at these board meetings. What do you say about getting back at him?” Pepper asked. I smiled.  
“Sure, what do you have in mind?” I asked. Pepper just smirked and led me out of the kitchen…  
~(^.^)~  
“He’s heading to the spare bedroom now,” Pepper whispered through the walkie-talkie.   
“Got it,” I replied, turning the walkie-talkie off.   
I watched the partially closed door that had a giant can of red paint and a bag of colorful feathers set up above the door. The door opened, and Tony walked into the room. I watched as paint poured onto him, and the feathers fell out of the bag and onto him, covering him completely in feathers. His face was completely covered in red paint, and he had to spit out some of the paint, and a couple feathers. I burst out laughing, and he looked over at me.  
“What the heck Cat?” He asked.  
“Hey Tony,” Pepper shouted. Tony turned to look at Pepper, just as she snapped a picture of him.  
“No delete that picture!” He shouted.   
Pepper shook her head and took off running in the direction of the kitchen. Tony chased after her, and I followed behind them. Tony ran into the kitchen and ran straight into my mom, who had just pulled a pie out of the stove. Mom fell back, and the pie flew out of her hands, and hit Tony in the face. I laughed, and Pepper took another picture.  
“I’m so going to kill you two,” Tony shouted, looking between me and Pepper.  
“Well that’s what you get for using me to get out of a board meeting,” I replied. I couldn’t help but laugh at how funny he looked covered in red paint, feathers, and pie…  
~(^.^)~  
By the end of the story everyone was practically on the floor laughing, while Tony was glaring at me.  
“I think Pepper still has the pictures,” I exclaimed, while laughing.  
“How could you tell them,” Tony shouted.  
“Well you were making fun of me, it only seemed appropriate,” I replied.  
“I bet he looked like some kind of bird with all those feathers,” Nat stated, laughing. I nodded my head.  
“Okay question where did you and Pepper get this paint and feathers from?” Thor asked.  
“Oh well Pepper was having one of the spare rooms re-painted, and the feathers where from this school project that I’d done,” I explained.   
Pepper walked into the room, and gave us all a funny look, seeing as we were all practically on the floor laughing.  
“Um what’s going on and why does Tony look mad?” She asked.  
“Because he was making fun of me so I told everyone about the time we covered him in paint and feathers and how he got pied in the face,” I replied. Pepper laughed.  
“Hey do you still have those pictures?” I asked.   
She nodded her and ran out of the room. A minute later she came back holding the pictures in her hands.  
“What I thought I destroyed those?!” Tony shouted.  
“Eh I had copies made before you destroyed the originals,” She replied, showing everyone the pictures, which caused everyone to burst out laughing.  
“Seriously why would you do this to me?” Tony asked, scowling at me and Pepper.  
“Because you were being mean,” I answered.  
“Well at least now you can’t black mail me from making fun of you,” Tony muttered.   
“Not true Poppy isn’t here so I can still tell her,” I replied, smirking. Tony scowled at me, and I laughed.


	20. Grilled cheese and horrible step-parents

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I don’t own the Avengers or any of the Marvel comics characters, though I do own my original characters.

Two days later  
“We found him!” Tony exclaimed, walking into the living room. I looked back at him.  
“My step-dad?!” I asked.  
“Uh no we found the guy who attacked you, he’s at a park a few blocks from here,” Dad explained.   
“We’re going to go get him, Josh you’re staying here with Cat and Poppy while we’re gone,” Stark stated.   
Josh, who was sitting next to me, nodded his head, and put his arm around me, and I put my arm around Poppy.  
“They won’t leave my sight no matter what, err well unless they have to use the bathroom,” Josh replied.   
Dad eyed his arm, then nodded his head. I watched them as they walked over to the elevator. When the elevator doors shut I gave Josh a quick kiss.  
“What was that for?” He asked, smiling at me.  
“For being here with me, and making sure I’m safe,” I replied, kissing him again. Suddenly my stomach growled.  
“I’m gonna take a guess and say you’re hungry,” Josh stated, getting up off the couch.  
“Why yes I am what gave me away?” I asked, smiling at him.  
“Oh just a wield guess. So what would you like to eat, grill cheese, eggs, bacon, any of the above sound good?” He asked, walking backwards towards the kitchen.  
“Hm grill cheese sounds good,” I replied.  
“Can do my friend,” He said, saluting then turning to walk into the kitchen. I smiled, and turned back to the TV. I have the best boyfriend ever.  
“You two are so cute together,” Poppy stated. I nodded my head.  
“Yeah, I guess so,” I replied.  
It took twenty minutes for Josh to make us all grilled cheeses. But soon enough the three of us were eating grill cheese and watching Saving Hope.  
“That was the best grill cheese I’ve ever had,” I exclaimed, eating the last of my grill cheese.   
“Same not even Pepper’s grill cheese can compare to this,” Poppy added.   
“Well I have the best grill cheese recipe,” He replied. I smiled.  
“So a nice guy and an awesome cook,” I stated. He laughed.   
“Aw how sweet,” A voice said from the elevator.   
I turned to see my step-dad and several men standing in front of the elevator. Josh jumped up out of his seat, and stepped in front of me and Poppy. I could see fire engulf his arms.   
“What do you want?” Josh asked.   
“Oh come now who says I can’t come and see my step-daughter,” He stated.  
“I say so, I don’t want to see or talk to you, not after what you did to me and Josh,” I exclaimed, looking over the flames on Josh’s shoulders.   
“Oh Cat don’t be that way, I was only trying to help you,” He replied, taking a step towards us. Josh raised his arm.  
“Stay away from us or I swear I will hurt you,” Josh said.   
“How the heck did you think you were helping me? I mean seriously what’s wrong with you?” I shouted.   
I could see the men behind my step-dad pull out guns, and they had them aimed at Josh.  
“I was thinking that I could give you some amazing ability’s, and that you’d be thankful for them,” He replied. I scowled.  
“Yeah sure a lot of help they do me, I can’t even use them to defend myself,” I muttered.   
“Well maybe we could continue this at my place seeing as your friends will be back any minute,” My step-dad stated, taking another step towards us. Josh threw a fire ball at him, and one of the men behind my step-dad fired his gun. Josh fell to the floor, and the fire around his arms disappeared.   
“JOSH!!!” I screamed, bending down next to him. I could see blood pouring out of a hole in his leg.   
“Ow holy crap that hurts,” Josh mumbled, looking down at his leg. I put my hand over the wound and applied pressure.  
“You bastard you shot him!” I shouted. I could feel tears rolling down my face.   
“He’ll live,” My step-dad stated, walking over to us.  
“And who is this?” My step-dad asked, glancing at Poppy. I shoved Poppy behind me, and glared at him.  
“Don’t touch her,” I growled. I could feel Poppy shaking behind me. My step-dad just smirked at me.   
“Jarvis call Stark, and tell him what happened,” I shouted quickly. My step-dad scowled, and grabbed me by my good arm.  
“Now why would you do something like that?” He asked. I frowned at him, and tried to pull out of his grip. I looked back down at Josh.   
“Don’t worry you three will be staying together,” He said, motioning for his friends to grab Josh and Poppy…  
~(^.^)~  
Stark’s P.O.V.  
I flew through the sky heading towards the park where the guy who’d attacked Cat had been spotted. Thor was flying right next to me, and I could see the jet that Natasha, Clint, Steve, and Bruce where in, flying right behind us.   
“Is anyone else just a little suspicious that we were able to find this guy so easily?” Steve asked through the com.  
“Yeah but he’s our only lead to finding Cat’s Step-dad,” I replied.   
I landed in the park with Thor right behind me. I watched as the jet landed and Natasha, Clint, Steve, and Bruce stepped out.   
“He’s that way,” I stated, pointing to the right.   
The park was strangely empty considering what time of day it was. I walked through the park heading toward the spot where the guy that attacked Cat had been seen. I turned a corner and saw the guy sitting on a bench reading a newspaper. I walked over to the man and grabbed him by his shirt.  
“Where’s Cat’s step-dad?” I growled, yanking him up off the bench. He smiled at me.  
“I have no idea,” He replied.  
“Okay either you tell us where her step-dad is or I will let the hulk beat the crap out of you,” I stated.   
“I think the hulk would very much enjoy beating the crap out of him,” Bruce exclaimed. The smile disappeared from his face.  
“Ah… I can’t he’ll kill me,” The man replied.  
“Yeah and so will the hulk,” I stated.  
“If I tell you then you have to protect me from him,” He said. I scowled.  
“We’ll have you taken to S.H.I.E.L.D. headquarters,” Natasha replied.   
“Now talk where is he?” I asked, shaking him.  
“Okay, okay, this was all just a way to get you guys out of the tower so that he could take Cat,” He explained. Crap!   
“Natasha, Clint get him back to S.H.I.E.L.D. Thor, Bruce, Stark you three are with me,” Steve shouted. I dropped the guy.  
“Sir Cat would like me to inform you that her step-dad is in the tower, and that Josh has been shot,” Jarvis exclaimed.  
“Oh you’ve got to be kidding me,” I exclaimed.  
“What?” Bruce asked. I turned to look at him, but I knew he couldn’t see my face because of the mask.  
“Jarvis just informed me that he’s already at the tower, and that Josh has been shot,” I replied.   
Bruce scowled, and he started walking back towards the tower. I watched as he turned green and his muscles expanded until the Hulk was standing a few feet away from me. Then the Hulk took off towards the tower. I took off after him. The only thought on my mind was Poppy and Cat being near that psychopath.


	21. Hulk saves the day

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I don’t own the Avengers or any of the Marvel comics characters, though I do own my original characters.

Cat’s P.O.V.  
My step-dad was dragging me out of the tower, and I could see some of my step-dad’s friends dragging Josh and Poppy behind us.   
“Oh, come on his legs hurt he can’t walk,” I exclaimed, as I tried to pull out of my step-dads grip.   
Suddenly I felt the ground shake and I turned to see the hulk standing in front of us. My step-dad stopped walking, and I could hear someone drop to the ground.  
“Ow what the hell man,” Josh shouted.   
I turned to see that the guys had dropped Josh. I pulled out of my step-dad’s grip and ran over to Josh. I pulled Poppy out of the grip of the man who was holding her, and pulled her into my side.  
“Are you okay?” I asked.   
Josh and Poppy both nodded their heads. I turned back to look at the Hulk. He looked at me then Josh, then my step-dad, then back at me. I nodded my head.  
“Yup that’s my step-dad,” I stated.   
I could see Thor, and Iron man, who was holding onto Steve’s arm, land on the ground behind Hulk. Hulk roared, and grabbed my step-dad.   
“Hulk smash puny man,” Hulk growled, slamming my step-dad into the ground.   
Suddenly I heard gun fire, and I could see bullets bouncing off the Hulk. I turned to see some of my step-dad’s friends firing at the Hulk. The Hulk roared again, and Steve, Iron man, and Thor all charged at the men firing on the Hulk, and after a couple of seconds they had taken all of them out. Tony raced over to Poppy and pulled her into a hug.   
“Hulk I need my dad, he can help Josh,” I exclaimed, looking up at the Hulk.   
The Hulk grunted, and then he was shrinking back into my dad. After a couple of seconds my dad was running over to me.  
“Are you okay?” He asked, holding up what was left of his pants up. I nodded my head.  
“Yeah but Josh needs some help,” I replied.  
“I’m fine,” Josh muttered.   
“Yeah sure you are,” I grumbled.   
“All right Thor help Cat get Josh back into the tower. I’m going to go change, and then I’ll take a look at your leg,” Dad stated. Thor picked Josh up, and we walked back into the tower…  
~(^.^)~  
One hour later  
I sat back on the couch and looked at the small cast around Josh’s leg. Dad had just finished putting the cast on Josh, and he was now putting the first aid kit away, and Natasha and Clint had returned from taking that guy and my step-dad to S.H.I.E.L.D headquarters.   
“Well aren’t we a pair, what with me and my bad arm, and you with your bad leg,” I exclaimed. He smiled.  
“Oh yeah I’ve been meaning to take a look at your arm for some time now,” Dad muttered walking over to me. He helped me out of my sling, and he pulled my shirt back slightly to look at the cut on my shoulder.  
“It’s healing nicely, you should be out of your sling in a couple of days,” Dad stated, helping me put the sling back on.  
“Yay,” I shouted, pumping my good arm in the air. Dad laughed.  
“So, what should we do now?” Tony asked. I thought for a second.  
“Why don’t we all watch a movie,” I suggested.   
“Did you have a movie in mind?” Dad asked. I nodded my head.  
“I was thinking we could watch ‘the Wizard of Oz’,” I replied.   
“Yeah sure why not,” Tony muttered.  
“I’ll go get the movie,” I exclaimed, running into my room.   
I grabbed the movie and ran back out into the living room. Dad was getting the popcorn and everyone else was sitting on the couch waiting for me and dad. I popped the movie in, and sat down on the couch next Josh. Dad walked in with a bowl of popcorn and sat down next to me in the only open spot left on the couch. The movie started and everyone stopped talking. I love this, sitting here with my dad, and my boyfriend, and the rest of the team who’d become my family. I just wish that mom was still alive to be here with us. I rested my head on Josh’s shoulder, and grabbed some popcorn…


End file.
